R. Cooper White Jr.

Reginald Cooper White Jr., known as R. Cooper White Jr. (March 8, 1927 – April 22, 2017), was the 28th mayor of Greenville, South Carolina, a position which he held from 1969 to 1971.^[1] He was the District 4 representative on the six-member Greenville City Council from 1963 until his election as mayor.^[2]

White has been the chairman of the board of the Greenville Retirement Center.^[3]

Background

White went to the Greenville public schools. He went to Furman University and was a stockbroker. White died at McCall Hospice House in Greenville, South Carolina.^[4]

White's role in 1970 gubernatorial campaign

During his tenure as mayor, White was a Moderate Republican whereas most South Carolina party members and officials at that time were conservatives who had supported Barry Goldwater and Richard M. Nixon for U.S. President in 1964 and 1968. In 1970, White endorsed the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, John C. West, the outgoing lieutenant governor, rather than Republican Albert Watson, the U.S. representative from South Carolina's 2nd congressional district who carried the backing of U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond in a determined bid to become the first GOP governor of the state since Reconstruction.^[5]

Watson fielded television advertisements featuring scenes from riots five years earlier in the Watts section of Los Angeles. The spots were so controversial that White cited them in his refusal to endorse Watson.^[6] White's criticism alarmed Republicans who feared that Watson had painted himself into a minority position considering the decline in support for segregation. The Florence Morning News accused Watson of waging a "negative campaign" focusing upon "those who stand for racial segregation above all else." The Morning News declared the racial issue invalid because a governor could not "turn back the clock ... and is powerless to defy the federal courts."^[5]

Echoing White's view, the Rev. Dr. Angus McKay Brabham, a proclaimed Republican who edited the South Carolina Methodist Advocate, endorsed West because various members of the John Birch Society and the Ku Klux Klan were supporting Watson, who lost the election to West, 52.1 to 45.9 percent.^[5]

Another relatively moderate Republican, Arthur Ravenel Jr., of Charleston, a former Democrat, had planned to oppose Watson in a Republican primary, but the selection was made by state convention. Years later, Ravenel became a state senator and U.S. representative from South Carolina's 1st congressional district. Ravenel said that the failure to hold a primary hurt the Watson campaign because it mistakenly assumed moderate Republican support, such as that of Mayor White, which could have made the difference between success and defeat.^[5]

See also

• Jesse L. Helms
• Harry B. Luthi
• Knox H. White
• Bill Workman

References