MYRTLE BEACH - Fritz Hollings, one of the newest inductees into the South Carolina Hall of Fame, might have retired from public office, but he hasn't retired from telling it as he sees it.

"I'm glad to be home and outside of Washington," the 84-year-old, silver-haired Democrat told an audience of schoolchildren before his induction Monday. "I don't agree too much with what's going on there, but South Carolina agrees with everything going on up there. That's why I hesitate to make a talk. I don't want them to take this award away from me."

The Charleston native and Citadel graduate served his state for more than half a century as state lawmaker, lieutenant governor, governor and U.S. senator, a job he held for almost four decades until retiring last year.

The other inductee was colonial leader William Henry Drayton.

During the ceremony, Hollings said the nation needs to learn from the Founding Fathers, who wagered their lives and fortunes for posterity.

"Posterity, my crowd never heard of posterity," he quipped. "They think that because posterity can do nothing for them, why should they do anything for posterity. They're looking to the next election, to hell with the next generation."

Hollings is credited with helping shepherd the state through desegregation and leading efforts nationally for government food programs. He also made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984.

Hollings talked of attending a Pearl Harbor remembrance last month and noted that the U.S. accepted Japan's surrender 1,346 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. "Now, 1,601 days - I want you to count it - after Osama bin Laden attacked the United States, we have yet to find Osama. It's all theater and no substance up there."

Earlier, a student asked how South Carolina can improve its public schools. "If I were king for a day, I would start a mountain-to-the-coast system of kindergartens," Hollings said. "If you want the real secret, double the teachers' pay."

Drayton was born 1742 at Drayton Hall plantation near Charleston and was a member of the state's provincial government. He was state chief justice, served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and helped frame the Articles of Confederation, which became the nation's first charter.

Drayton also proposed that the Fourth of July be celebrated with fireworks.

Craig Hadley of Charleston, who read the tribute to Drayton, said in June 1779 Congress debated how to celebrate the third anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Henry Laurens of South Carolina wanted a day of prayer and fasting; Drayton a celebration and fireworks. Congress agreed with Drayton.

"It was a pretty quick vote," said Hadley, and fireworks have been part of the Fourth ever since.