Joseph Halstead "Peter" McGee Jr. (April 6, 1929 – April 27, 2024) was an American politician in the state of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. He served in the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

from 1963 to 1968, representing

Charleston County, South Carolina Charleston County is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina along the Atlantic coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 408,235, making it the third-most populous county in South Carolina (behind Greenville and Richland counti ...

. He was a lawyer and judge. McGee helped protect Charleston's Four Corners of Law. His son-in-law is comedian

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

Early life

McGee was born on April 6, 1929, in Charleston, South Carolina. He was brought up in the city as an only child, by his father, Joseph Halstead McGee, a trust officer at a local bank, and Madeleine Gendron McGee (née Stoney), a housewife. McGee recalled that his house at 4 King Street had no

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. A central heating system has a Furnace (central heating), furnace that converts fuel or electricity to heat through processes. The he ...

; instead they burnt coal in two rooms and had "a Franklin-type oil-burning stove" in the middle of the dining room. McGee was childhood friends with J. Palmer Gaillard Jr., who went onto become mayor of Charleston from 1959 to 1975. He attended Miss Sadie Jervey's private

one-room school One-room schoolhouses, or One-room schools, have been commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, and Spa ...

for two years, elementary at the Craft School, and later went to Charleston High School, graduating in 1945. He received his bachelor degree from

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

in 1950, and two years later his

bachelor of laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. There, he was awarded the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award and was a member of

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869. Since its founding, Sigma Nu has chartered more than 279 chapters across the United States and Ca ...

. McGee joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in 1952, and from July 1953 to July 1955, he served as a Lt. J.G. aboard of the USS Wasp (CV-18).

Career

Law

He was admitted at the South Carolina Bar in 1956. Shortly after he joined as a lawyer at the firm of Moore & Mouzon. In 1964 he became a partner of what became Moore, Mouzon & McGee, until 1970. That year, he and his childhood friend Ben Moore joined Henry and Augustin Smythe to form Buist, Moore, Smythe & McGee, PA. During his years practicing law, McGee served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the South Carolina Bar Association in 1971. From 1980 to 1981, he served as the president Charleston County Bar Association, and became President of the SC Bar Senior Lawyers Division in 2002. A year later he was recognized with the Bar Association’s DuRant Distinguished Public Service Award. McGee was admitted to the

American College of Trial Lawyers The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) is a professional association of trial lawyers from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1950, the College is dedicated to maintaining and improving the standards of trial practice, especially tri ...

in 1991.

Political career

From 1963 to 1968, McGee served as a member of the

from the Charleston County district, for three two-year terms. He was First Vice-Chair of the Judiciary Committee from 1966 to 1968. As Vice-Chair of the South Carolina Tri-centennial Commission from 1966 to 1971 he led efforts to negotiate the purchase, raise the funds, and plan for the creation of

Charles Towne Landing Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site in the West Ashley area of Charleston, South Carolina, preserves the original site of the first permanent English settlement in Carolina. Originally opened in 1970 to commemorate South Carolina's tricent ...

. Of his state tenure, McGee has said: "I never ever regretted the service, but I never ever regretted the decision to get out when I did. I ran because as a young lawyer it was an opportunity for me to get better known, but the participation in the legislative process was an education, and it was a great pleasure. I enjoyed it. I saw things I didn’t like and I saw things I didn’t approve of. But by and large we had good state government." From 1971 to 1975 he served one term at the Charleston City Council with mayor J. Palmer Gaillard Jr.

Advocacy and volunteering

McGee served on the Evening Post Publishing Company’s Board of Directors for twenty years. McGee worked closely with Historic Charleston Foundation's director, Frances Edmunds, which led to the nation's first historic preservation plan in 1974.

Personal life and death

McGee married Evelyn 'Patti' Moore in 1960, and had two daughters, Madeleine and Evelyn. They remained married until her death, on November 11, 2022, after a long illness. He and his wife lived in Charleston until 2015, when they moved to a house in Sullivan's Island. McGee and his family were parishioners of Charleston's Second Presbyterian Church. He died April 27, 2024, at the age of 95.

Awards and honors

In 2021, McGee received the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor awarded by the

governor of South Carolina The governor of South Carolina is the head of government of South Carolina. The governor is the ''ex officio'' commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal service. The governor's responsibilities include making year ...

. In 2023, the Historic Charleston Foundation, created a new award named after McGee, which recognizes excellence in advocacy, community preservation and planning. In 2024, a renovation of the park at Wragg Square, in front of Charleston's Second Presbyterian Church, was made in honor of McGee and his wife. The park also features a plaque conveying their love of the community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Joseph H. Jr. 1929 births 2024 deaths Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives South Carolina state court judges South Carolina lawyers Lawyers from Charleston, South Carolina 20th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly