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“S” is for Sawyer, Benjamin Mack (1890-1940)

“S” is for Sawyer, Benjamin Mack (1890-1940). Public official. A native of Aiken County, Sawyer graduated from the University of South Carolina. After service in World War I, he became the first secretary of the State Budget Commission. In 1925 Sawyer became secretary of the Highway Commission. Politically astute, he became chief highway commissioner in 1926. During his remarkable tenure in office, Sawyer survived many political controversies while superintending the steady growth of the Highway Commission. He successfully lobbied for state, not local, funding for highway construction through state-issued bonds. And he twice successfully resisted attempts by governors and the General Assembly to divert highway funds to balance the state budget. During Benjamin Mack Sawyer’s tenure, the miles of roadways in the state doubled and two out of three of those miles were paved.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.