After 40 years and 3,000 columns, The State’s Lee Bandy is retiring

After 40 years and 3,000 columns, The State’s Lee Bandy is retiring
Hailed as a legend by colleagues and a mover and shaker by sources, reporter has kept finger on pulse of S.C. politics
By AARON GOULD SHEININ
asheinin@thestate.com

Legendary political reporter and columnist Lee Bandy will retire at the end of the year after 40 years with The State newspaper.

Bandy, 71, has been with the newspaper since 1966. He started as Washington correspondent, then served as Washington bureau chief. He moved to Columbia in January 1992.

While Bandy will retire from day-to-day reporting, he will continue writing his weekly Sunday column at least through 2007.

During a luncheon in his honor Wednesday at the newspaper, Bandy told his colleagues, “I’ve met a lot of fascinating people, and I might add I’ve worked with some wonderful people. You’ve been a source of inspiration to me.”

As the top political reporter in South Carolina, Bandy often is sought out by politicians looking for a positive mention in his Sunday column. During Wednesday’s lunch, in fact, potential 2008 presidential candidate John Edwards left a phone message for Bandy congratulating him on his coming retirement.

During 40 years of writing his column, Bandy never missed a week. He said he estimates he’s written 3,000 columns. Each column is about 800 words. That’s more than 2 million words, “and that’s more than enough for anybody,” Bandy said.

David Broder, longtime political reporter for The Washington Post, said Bandy was a legend in the Senate Press Gallery in Washington. Broder still occasionally calls Bandy to get the pulse of South Carolina politics.

“He’s enormously generous and helpful and tells you stories you would never hear from any other source,” Broder said.

Former S.C. Gov. David Beasley, a Republican, called Bandy his friend and said, “No one has become president of the United States without crossing his path in 40 years, and no one has had an impact on South Carolina government that hasn’t dealt with Lee Bandy.”

A native of Asheville, Bandy is a graduate of Bob Jones University. He is a member of the exclusive Gridiron Club of Washington journalists. He and his wife, Mary, have two sons, Ryan and Michael, a daughter, Alexa, and two grandchildren, Sophia and Nathaniel. They are members of First Presbyterian Church in Columbia and live in Forest Acres.