Benjamin Tillman

Benjamin Tillman
Tillman around 1910
United States Senator from South Carolina
In office March 4, 1895 – July 3, 1918
Preceded by	Matthew Butler
Succeeded by	Christie Benet
84th Governor of South Carolina
In office December 4, 1890 – December 4, 1894
Lieutenant	Eugene B. Gary (1890–1893) Washington H. Timmerman (1893–1894)
Preceded by	John Peter Richardson III
Succeeded by	John Gary Evans
Personal details
Born	Benjamin Ryan Tillman, Jr. (1847-08-11)August 11, 1847 Trenton, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	July 3, 1918(1918-07-03) (aged 70) Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Sallie Starke (1868–1918, his death)
Relations	George Dionysius Tillman (brother)
Parents	Benjamin Ryan Tillman, Sr.
Nickname(s)	"Pitchfork Ben"

Benjamin Ryan Tillman (August 11, 1847 – July 3, 1918) was a politician of the Democratic Party who was Governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894, and a United States Senator from 1895 until his death in 1918. A white supremacist who often spoke out against blacks, Tillman led a paramilitary group of Red Shirts during South Carolina's violent 1876 election. On the floor of the U.S. Senate, he frequently ridiculed blacks, and boasted of having helped to kill them during that campaign.

In the 1880s, Tillman, a wealthy landowner, became dissatisfied with the Democratic leadership and led a movement of white farmers calling for reform. He was initially unsuccessful, though he was instrumental in the founding of Clemson University as an agricultural school. In 1890, Tillman took control of the state Democratic Party, and was elected governor. During his four years in office, 18 African Americans were lynched in South Carolina—the 1890s saw the most lynchings of any decade in South Carolina. Tillman tried to prevent lynchings, but spoke in support of the lynch mobs, stating his own willingness to lead one. In 1894, at the end of his second two-year term, he was elected to the U.S. Senate by vote of the state legislature.

Tillman was known as "Pitchfork Ben" because of his aggressive language, as when he threatened to use one to prod that "bag of beef", President Grover Cleveland. Considered a possible candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1896, Tillman lost any chance after giving a disastrous speech at the convention. He became known for his virulent oratory (especially against African Americans) but also as an effective legislator. The first federal campaign finance law, banning corporate contributions, is commonly called the Tillman Act. Tillman was repeatedly re-elected, serving in the Senate for the rest of his life. One of his legacies was South Carolina's 1895 constitution, which disenfranchised most of the black majority and ensured white rule for more than half a century.