Olin D. Johnston

Olin D. Johnston
United States Senator
from South Carolina
In office
January 3, 1945 – April 18, 1965
Preceded byWilton E. Hall
Succeeded byDonald S. Russell
98th Governor of South Carolina
In office
January 19, 1943 – January 2, 1945
LieutenantRansome J. Williams
Preceded byRichard M. Jefferies
Succeeded byRansome J. Williams
In office
January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939
LieutenantJoseph E. Harley
Preceded byIbra C. Blackwood
Succeeded byBurnet R. Maybank
Member of the
South Carolina House of Representatives
from Spartanburg County
In office
January 11, 1927 – January 13, 1931
Member of the
South Carolina House of Representatives
from Anderson County
In office
January 9, 1923 – January 13, 1925
Personal details
Born
Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston

(1896-11-18)November 18, 1896
Near Honea Path, South Carolina, U.S.
DiedApril 18, 1965(1965-04-18) (aged 68)
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Gladys Atkinson
(m. 1924)
Children3, including Elizabeth
Alma materWofford College (BA)
University of South Carolina (M.A., LL.B.)
ProfessionLawyer
Known forDenying clemency to wrongful execution victim George Stinney
Military service
AllegianceUnited States of America
Branch/serviceUnited States Army National Guard
Years of service1917 – 1919
RankSergeant
Unit117th Engineer Unit
Battles/warsWorld War I

Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston (November 9, 1896 – April 18, 1965) was an American politician from the US state of South Carolina. He served as the 98th governor of South Carolina, from 1935 to 1939 and again from 1943 to 1945. He represented the state in the United States Senate from 1945 until his death from pneumonia in Columbia, South Carolina in 1965. He has become infamously remembered for denying clemency to George Stinney, a 14 year-old African American boy who was wrongfully sentenced to death in 1944 after a trial that lasted for one single day, a conviction overturned 70 years later.