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HomeFeature Page - James Clyburn
 Brother James Clyburn
"The Majority Whip"
James Enos "Jim" Clyburn (born July 21, 1940) is an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 6th congressional district of South Carolina(map). A Democrat, he represents South Carolina's only majority-black district, which includes Florence, Sumter and large portions of Columbia and Charleston.
He is the House Majority Whip in the 110th Congress, and is the third-ranking Democrat in the House behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. He is the second African American (behind Bill Gray of Pennsylvania) and the first South Carolinian to hold the position.
He attended South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University) in Orangeburg where he was initiated into Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and graduated with a bachelor's degree in history. After an unsuccessful run for the South Carolina General Assembly, he moved to Columbia to join the staff of Governor John C. West in 1971. In this position he became the first minority advisor to a South Carolina Governor. He was appointed the state's human affairs commissioner by Governor West in 1974, a position in which he held until 1992, when he stepped down to run for Congress.
During the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries, Clyburn supported Dick Gephardt until he dropped out of the race and afterwards supported John Kerry. Clyburn is generally considered to be the most important African-American political leader in his home state.
Clyburn was elected as vice-chairman of the House Democratic Caucus in 2003, the third-ranking post in the caucus. He became chairman in early 2006 after caucus chairman Bob Menendez was appointed to the Senate.
After the Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in the 2006 election, Clyburn was unanimously elected as Majority Whip in the 110th Congress.
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