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“D” is for Dorn, William Jennings Bryan (1906-2005)

“D” is for Dorn, William Jennings Bryan (1906-2005). Congressman. A native of Greenwood, Dorn was elected to the S. C. House of Representatives in 1938 and two years later to the S.C. Senate. He resigned his seat to join the armed forces during World War II. In 1946 he won his first election to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Third Congressional District. In 1950 Dorn was re-elected to the Congressional seat he had given up in an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate. He served continuously until 1974. In Congress, he established a record as a strong supporter of military and defense spending and a champion of veterans. Once considered a conservative segregationist, Dorn evolved into a progressive populist. William Jennings Bryan Dorn unsuccessfully ran for governor twice—in 1974 and 1978.

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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.