This episode of The Big Picture chronicles the life and times of Senator John Drummond of Greenwood, South Carolina. We find our host, Mark Quinn, inside the chamber of the South Carolina State Senate as he begins his profile of the political career of this master statesman.
Drummond had been a war hero and a prisoner of war as well as a cotton mill worker and a doughnut baker. Beyond that, he had been a political maverick as well as a peacemaker. Alex Sanders narrates the documentary which features clips of John Drummond and his contemporaries in the legislature.
John Drummond talked about growing up in a mill town in Ninety Six, where his whole family worked at the mill. He was a member of the state national guard, stationed on the coast, and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he entered the Army Air Corps pilot training program. Flying forty-five missions in his P47 named "Raid Hot Mama," Captain Drummond became a hero. Barely two months after the invasion, he was shot down over German territory and taken to a German Prisoner of War Camp, where he spent the rest of the war.
After the war, Drummond did not return to the cotton mill but opened a small doughnut shop. By the mid-1950s, he had moved on to the oil business where he worked for fifteen years building the Drummond Oil Company. Thereafter he turned his attention to politics and became a candidate for the House of Representatives for Greenwood County. The Speaker of the House, Solomon Blatt, became his mentor and with the backing of Blatt, Drummond became a Senator in 1967.
While in the Senate, he was known for his non-partisanship, and he worked as well with the Republican leadership as he had with the Democrats. He worked with tenacity to address the needs of his constituency, always with the goal of trying to help all South Carolinians. In 2000 the Confederate flag that flew over the South Carolina State House became a significant political issue. Upon reaching a compromise with members of the Senate, Senator Drummond folded the lowered Confederate flag and walked it over to the Confederate History Museum in the company of the other senators.
Duty, respect, and leadership were important to Senator Drummond, and he did much to try to encourage young people entering public service. The Senator of Greenwood was the recipient of the first David Wilkins Award.
Side Notes:
- John Willie Drummond (September 29, 1919 – September 3, 2016) was an American politician. He was a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate, who represented the 10th District from 1966 through 2008. He was also a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1965 through 1966.
- Remembering Senator John Drummond
- Notes from Ninety Six - SC State Senator John W. Drummond
- Flag Coming Down From Dome Today Attracting International Attention -2000 - Senate President Pro Tem John Drummond removed the Confederate flag that flies in Senate chambers and sent it to the State Museum. The House will do the same thing sometime today. The rectangular Confederate flag comes down from the Statehouse dome today in a ceremony drawing international media attention -- and protests from both flag supporters and opponents.
- Alex Sanders - Former College of Charleston President Alex Sanders Leaves the Classroom.
- Alex Sanders (Politician) - Sanders was the 19th President of the College of Charleston (1992–2001). Sanders was a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics during the fall 2003 semester. As one of five founders, Sanders was the President of the Charleston School of Law from its founding in 2002 until 2013. Sanders taught courses in the Political Science Department at the College of Charleston through 2020.
- The Honorable Sol Blatt, Jr. (1921-2016)
