Statesman, alumnus Riley ’54 reflects on Carter’s legacy

Two-term South Carolina Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley spoke to WYFF News 4 Anchor Jane Robelot about the special relationship he shared with former President Jimmy Carter who passed away at the age of 100 on Dec. 29, 2024. Riley, a 1954 alumnus of Furman University, trustee emeritus and the namesake of The Riley Institute at Furman, was Carter’s campaign manager for South Carolina and considered him a “great friend.” Riley told Robelot that Carter’s honesty and humility won him the election in 1976 at a time when the nation was still reeling from the Watergate scandal.

In a photo essay published in The Greenville News documenting Carter’s visit to Startex Mills (Startex, South Carolina) in 1980, there are several photos of then Governor Riley, but he is not named.