On January 11, 1995, David Muldrow Beasley became the 113th person to take the oath of Office of the Governor of South Carolina.

From the moment he took the oath, Governor Beasley set "Putting Families First" as the theme of his administration. He immediately set out on an ambitious agenda that would focus on tax cuts, crime fighting, welfare reform and economic development.

As he passed the midway point of his first term, the results were dramatic: record-breaking capital investment, welfare caseloads cut by half, new technology and investments in the classroom, and tougher criminal sentencing policies.

During his first three years in office, Governor Beasley worked closely with the General Assembly to cut nearly $900 million in taxes. This included a sharp cut in property taxes, enabling the average homeowner in South Carolina to pay no school operating taxes. The Governor also assured cuts in income taxes for senior citizens, increased tax exemptions for those with children under six and increased tax depreciation for manufacturers. In 1998, the Governor began fighting to eliminate the property tax on cars and trucks.

The Governor campaigned in 1994 by urging reforms in the decaying welfare system, and the next year the Family Independence Act became law. The law placed time limits on benefits, stopped paying children to have children and made job training mandatory. The Department of Social Services transformed its mission from check-cutting to job placement, and caseloads began to drop substantially.

To help ensure the success of such reforms, Governor Beasley also established a public-private partnership to link needy families with people in churches, synagogues and civic clubs. Funded with remaining dollars from the Beasley Inaugural Committee, the Putting Families First Foundation acts as the facilitator and training center for the religious community to restore welfare families to self-sufficiency.

Governor Beasley’s first term will no doubt go down as South Carolina’s most successful years ever in economic development to date. The Governor successfully pushed through the Enterprise Zone Act of 1995, an incentive plan to help target growth where it is most needed. The Rural Development Act expanded upon that initiative the next year, assuring that urban and non-urban areas alike could enjoy the fruits of economic growth.

As a result, announced capital investment from 1995 to 1997 shattered old records, totaling more than $16 billion and 80,000 new jobs. These records doubled what the state had done the three years before Governor Beasley took office.

Governor Beasley is also seeking improvements in South Carolina's public school system, pairing a back-to-basics, high-standards philosophy with an increasing availability of 21st century technology. A statewide education technology plan helps equip each school with satellite capability as well as fiber optic, cable and computer access for distance learning and hands-on instruction.

Under the Governor's leadership, teachers are now being paid above the regional average for the first time in South Carolina's history. The Governor also successfully pushed through the General Assembly a plan to raise the number of credits required for high school graduation. In higher education, the Governor is meeting the concerns over rising costs with ways to make it easier for parents to send their children to South Carolina's public colleges and universities. Governor Beasley created South Carolina's first need-based college scholarship program, and he began a prepaid tuition assistance program.

Governor Beasley has also acted with resolve to restore a sense of discipline and common sense to the state's criminal justice system. In 1995, the Governor's first year in office, the General Assembly passed with the Governor's support an extensive crime bill. The legislation included a "2-strikes-3-strikes" provision, requiring that violent offenders receive a life sentence upon a second violent conviction and other violent and nonviolent offenders receive life sentences upon their third.

The Governor has worked closely with the Department of Corrections to instill sweeping prison reforms, both as cost-cutting and safety measures. Inmates are now wearing standard uniforms and hair-cuts, and all able-bodied inmates are required to work full-time.

The goal in both adult and juvenile corrections is to ensure that time is structured and focused on building life skills and discipline. At the Department of Juvenile Justice, it is now required that each juvenile offender enter the system with boot camp training. South Carolina has also become a national leader in creating wilderness camps for juvenile inmates, where rehabilitation is the focus and recidivism is sharply reduced.

The campaign theme of "Putting Families First" continues to serve as the central mission throughout the Beasley Administration. The Governor continuously challenges state agencies to make every service family-friendly, from welfare policies to the office hours of family service agencies.

In 1997, the nation’s 32 Republican governors honored Governor Beasley by naming him chairman of the Republican Governors Association. The influential post will boost South Carolina’s influence with leaders in Congress.

Governor Beasley  is a deeply committed husband and father. He and the First Lady, Mary Wood Beasley, have two daughters, Mary Hunter and Sarah Catherine, and one son, David, Jr.

Educated in South Carolina public schools, Beasley graduated from Lamar High School and was a student-athlete at Clemson University, majoring in microbiology. As a 20-year-old junior at Clemson, Beasley ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives. Upon election, he transferred to the University of South Carolina, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in general studies and his Juris Doctorate degree from the USC School of Law.

As a member of the South Carolina House from 1979 through 1992, Beasley rose quickly through the House leadership, becoming Majority Whip and later House Speaker Pro Tempore. During his 13 years in the Legislature, Beasley served as Chairman of the Education and Public Works Committee, Chairman of the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Education, and as Vice-Chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Children.

He served on the South Carolina Mining Council and on the South Carolina Board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as well as many other community, civic and statewide committees.

Governor Beasley has been awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from the University of South Carolina, The Citadel, Regent University and Charleston Southern University. He was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the College of Charleston.