{{short description|American politician (born 1933)}} {{other people}} {{Use mdy dates| date=November 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Dick Riley | image = Portrait of SC Governor Dick Riley.jpg | caption = Official portrait, {{circa|1979}} | office = 6th United States Secretary of Education | president = Bill Clinton | term_start = January 21, 1993 | term_end = January 20, 2001 | predecessor = Lamar Alexander | successor = Rod Paige | order1 = 111th Governor of South Carolina | lieutenant1 = Nancy Stevenson<br>Michael R. Daniel | term_start1 = January 10, 1979 | term_end1 = January 14, 1987 | predecessor1 = James B. Edwards | successor1 = Carroll A. Campbell Jr. | office2 = Member of the South Carolina Senate | term_start2 = January 10, 1967 | term_end2 = January 11, 1977 | predecessor2 = Constituency established | successor2 = Carroll A. Campbell Jr. | constituency2 = 3rd district (1967–1973)<br>2nd district (1973–1977) | birth_name = Richard Wilson Riley | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1933|1|2}} | birth_place = Greenville, South Carolina, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = Democratic | spouse = Ann Yarborough | children = 4 | education = Furman University (BA)<br>University of South Carolina (JD) | allegiance = United States | branch = United States Navy | service_years = 1954–1955 }} '''Richard Wilson Riley''' (born January 2, 1933) is an American politician who served as the sixth United States secretary of education from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton and as the 111th governor of South Carolina from 1979 to 1987. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Riley is the only Democrat to serve two consecutive terms as governor in the time since the state constitution was amended to allow governors to serve consecutive terms.
==Early life and career== Richard Riley was born on January 2, 1933, in Greenville, South Carolina, to Edward P. "Ted" Riley and the former Martha (née Dixon) Riley.<ref name="library">{{cite web | title=South Carolina Political Collections - University Libraries {{!}} University of South Carolina | url=http://library.sc.edu/p/Collections/SCPC/collections?Collection=RileyEdwardPTed19001994 | website=library.sc.edu | access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref> He graduated cum laude from Furman University, where he was a member of the South Carolina Phi chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, in 1954 and received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law.<ref name="archived">{{cite web | title=Archived: U. S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley Biographical Sketch | url=https://www2.ed.gov/offices/OS/riley.html | website=www2.ed.gov | access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref>
Riley served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967. He served in the South Carolina Senate from 1967 to 1977.
== Governor of South Carolina (1979–1987) == Riley was elected governor of South Carolina in 1978. During his first term, the state constitution was amended to allow governors to serve two terms. Riley was re-elected in 1982, 70%-30%, over the Republican former journalist W. D. Workman, Jr., of Greenville, and served until 1987.
As governor, Riley presided over the resumption of executions, despite his personal opposition to the death penalty.<ref name="best">{{cite web | title=The best governor in America - and you've never heard of him. - Free Online Library | url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+best+governor+in+America+-+and+you've+never+heard+of+him-a04473384 | website=www.thefreelibrary.com | access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref>
Riley spearheaded the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984, a consequential statewide education reform effort that led him to being dubbed as South Carolina’s “Education Governor.”<ref>Self, Jamie (2015-12-18). [https://www.thestate.com/news/special-reports/state-125/article51883765.html "Dick Riley: From 'Young Turk' to SC's 'Education Governor'"]. ''The State''. Retrieved 2023-06-05.</ref> He also initiated landmark legislation such as the Medically Indigent Assistance Act, the first statewide program of its kind in the nation; the Employment Revitalization Act aimed at coordinating occupational training statewide; and the Omnibus Crime Bill.
== Post-gubernatorial career == thumb|left| 160px|Riley as secretary of education In 1993, President Bill Clinton approached Riley about an appointment to the United States Supreme Court, which Riley turned down. Clinton ultimately appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That same year, President Clinton appointed Riley to his Cabinet as Secretary of Education. From 1997 to 2000, Riley worked with senior adviser Carol Rasco, the director of Clinton's childhood literacy initiative, the America Reads Challenge,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.yale.edu/1997/11/10/director-america-reads-challenge-speak-new-haven|title=Director of the "America Reads Challenge" to Speak in New Haven|date=1997-11-10|work=YaleNews|access-date=2018-07-28|language=en}}</ref> to design and implement the program.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=http://www.childrensbooksandreviews.com/children-reading-and-literacy-interview-with-carol-rasco-reading-is-fundamental/|title=Interview: Carol Rasco, Reading is Fundamental|last=Mead|first=Aaron|date=2010-10-30|work=Children's Books and Reviews|access-date=2018-07-28|language=en-US|archive-date=July 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728101110/http://www.childrensbooksandreviews.com/children-reading-and-literacy-interview-with-carol-rasco-reading-is-fundamental/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Riley served as Secretary of Education until Clinton left office in 2001. Since then, he has served as a partner in the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, and served as a board member of the Albert Shanker Institute. On June 27, 2007, he endorsed Hillary Clinton for president and served as a campaign co-chair.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campaignsandelections.com/sc/articles/?id=310|title=Campaigns & Elections magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928094802/http://campaignsandelections.com/sc/articles/?id=310|archive-date=September 28, 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=23 October 2018|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
===World Justice Project=== Riley serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}} The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.
== Recognition == In 1999, Furman University, Riley's alma mater, created the Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership in his honor. In 2000, Riley received the Foreign Language Advocacy Award from the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in recognition of his support for education and especially for his repeated recommendations that all students learn a second language.<ref>{{cite web | title=The James W. Dodge Foreign Language Advocate Award | url=http://www.nectfl.org/awards-james-w-dodge-foreign-language-advocate-award | publisher=Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages | access-date=August 28, 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821193635/http://www.nectfl.org/awards-james-w-dodge-foreign-language-advocate-award | archive-date=August 21, 2014 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 2008, Walden University renamed its college of education the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership, in honor of Riley's "commitment to students, his legacy of improving access to higher education, and his focus on diversity in education."<ref name="walden">{{cite web | title=Walden U. Names a College After a Former Secretary of Education | url=http://chronicle.com/news/article/3793/walden-u-names-a-college-after-former-secretary-of-education | website=The Chronicle of Higher Education | access-date=23 October 2018 | date=23 January 2008}}</ref> Winthrop University also renamed its college of education after Riley in 2000.
''TIME'' magazine in 2008 named him among the Top Ten Best Cabinet Members in USA history.<ref name="top10">{{cite magazine | title=Top 10 Best Cabinet Members | url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1858368_1858367_1858342,00.html | magazine=Time | access-date=23 October 2018 | date=13 November 2008}}</ref> The Christian Science Monitor once said that many Americans regard Dick Riley as "one of the great statesmen of education in this (20th) century." The late David Broder, columnist for ''The Washington Post'', called him one of the "most decent and honorable people in public life."<ref name="richard">{{cite web | title=Richard Riley | url=https://all4ed.org/people/richard-riley/ | website=Alliance For Excellent Education | access-date=23 October 2018 | archive-date=August 7, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807001631/https://all4ed.org/people/richard-riley/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 2018, his hometown of Greenville announced plans to memorialize him with a sculpture representing his extraordinary public leadership and commitment to quality education for all children.<ref name="administrator">{{cite web | author1=News Administrator | title=Richard W. Riley to be honored with downtown Greenville sculpture - Furman News | url=https://news.furman.edu/2018/06/19/richard-riley-to-be-honored-with-downtown-greenville-sculpture/ | website=news.furman.edu | date=June 19, 2018 | access-date=23 October 2018}}</ref>
The Richard W. Riley Collection opened in 2018 at the University of South Carolina’s South Carolina Political Collections and contains more than 3,000 photographs; thousands of speeches with Riley’s handwritten edits; extensive research notes on policy development; considerable correspondence and news clippings; interviews with Riley and his late wife, Tunky, their son, Ted, and Dick Riley's father, Edward P. “Ted” Riley. The collection also includes printed campaign materials from Riley's political campaigns and his efforts for others, including Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and Al Gore.<ref name="binette">{{cite web | last1=Binette | first1=Peggy | title=UofSC opens Richard W. Riley Collection | url=https://sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2018/08/uofsc_opens_richard_riley_collection.php#.W2htGWYUmUm | website=University of South Carolina | access-date=23 October 2018 | language=en}}</ref>
==Personal life== Riley and his wife, the late Ann O. Yarborough, have three sons and one daughter.
==See also== *Bill Clinton Supreme Court candidates
==References== '''Specific''' {{reflist| 30em}}
'''General''' * [http://www.ed.gov/offices/OS/riley.html U.S. Department of Education Bio] * [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/riley.html The Political Graveyard] * [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/gen/resources/players/riley/ CNN AllPolitics – Players – Richard Riley] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20041119175638/http://www.nelsonmullins.com/lawyers/nelson-mullins-attorney-bio.cfm?id=544 Nelson, Mullins, Riley, and Scarborough Biography] * [http://www.waldenu.edu/Colleges-and-Schools/College-of-Education-and-Leadership/College-of-Education-and-Leadership.htm Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605043513/http://www.waldenu.edu/Colleges-and-Schools/College-of-Education-and-Leadership/College-of-Education-and-Leadership.htm |date=June 5, 2012 }} * [http://www.rileyinstitute.org The Riley Institute] * [http://www.furman.edu Furman University]
==External links== * [http://www.sciway.net/hist/governors/riley.html SCIway Biography of Richard Wilson Riley] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930011210/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=07c7ae3effb81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD NGA Biography of Richard Wilson Riley] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160313224318/http://www.mcgrawprize.com/winners/past/ Past Winners of Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education] * [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/richard-riley Richard Riley Interview] NAMM Oral History Program (2013) * {{C-SPAN|23681}} *[https://archives.library.sc.edu/repositories/6/resources/722 Richard W. Riley Papers] at South Carolina Political Collections, University of South Carolina *[http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/guide/StateRecords/rg0554.htm Governor Richard Riley Papers] at the South Carolina Department of Archives & History *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QxOfBfABGY&list=PLSf7wX6q9HKQxi8L0dzYFhS0C5ARYCzU3 1979 Richard Riley Swearing in ceremony and Inaugural Ball] on South Carolina Educational Television *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g-ndOOqPPI&list=PLSf7wX6q9HKQxi8L0dzYFhS0C5ARYCzU3&index=3 1983 Richard Riley Swearing in ceremony and Inaugural Ball] on South Carolina Educational Television
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-sc-sen}} {{s-bef|before=Constituency established}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the South Carolina Senate<br>from the 3rd district|years=1967–1973}} {{s-aft|after=John W. Drummond}} |- {{s-bef|before=Harris Smith}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the South Carolina Senate<br>from the 2nd district|years=1973–1977}} {{s-aft|after=Carroll A. Campbell Jr.}} |- {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Bryan Dorn}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of South Carolina|years=1978, 1982}} {{s-aft|after=Michael Daniel}} |- {{s-bef|before=Bruce Babbitt}} {{s-ttl|title=Chair of the Democratic Governors Association|years=1985–1986}} {{s-aft|after=Michael Dukakis}} |- {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=James Edwards}} {{s-ttl|title=Governor of South Carolina|years=1979–1987}} {{s-aft|after=Carroll A. Campbell Jr.}} |- {{s-bef|before=Lamar Alexander}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Secretary of Education|years=1993–2001}} {{s-aft|after=Rod Paige}} |- {{s-prec|usa}} {{s-bef|before=Federico Peña|as=Former U.S. Cabinet Member}} {{s-ttl|title=Order of precedence of the United States<br>''{{small|as Former U.S. Cabinet Member}}''|years=}} {{s-aft|after=Bruce Babbitt|as=Former U.S. Cabinet Member}} {{s-end}}
{{USSecEd}} {{Clinton cabinet}} {{Governors of South Carolina}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Richard}} Category:1933 births Category:20th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly Category:Clinton administration cabinet members Category:Democratic Party governors of South Carolina Category:Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Category:Democratic Party South Carolina state senators Category:Furman University alumni Category:Greenville Senior High School (Greenville, South Carolina) alumni Category:Living people Category:Methodists from South Carolina Category:Politicians from Greenville, South Carolina Category:Sigma Alpha Epsilon members Category:United States secretaries of education Category:University of South Carolina alumni Category:University of South Carolina trustees Category:People associated with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough