1. Since Joe Cunningham's departure in 2021, Jim Clyburn has been the only Democrat in South Carolina's congressional delegation and as well as the dean of this delegation since 2011 after fellow Democrat John Spratt lost re-election.
48 Facts About Jim Clyburn
1. 2.
Jim Clyburn served as the third-ranking House Democrat, behind Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, from 2007 until 2023, serving as majority whip behind Pelosi and Hoyer during periods of Democratic House control, and as assistant Democratic leader behind Pelosi and Hoyer during periods of Republican control.
3.
Jim Clyburn was House Majority Whip from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023 and House assistant Democratic leader from 2011 to 2019 and again from 2023 to 2024.
4.
Jim Clyburn played a pivotal role in the 2020 presidential election by endorsing Joe Biden three days before the South Carolina Democratic primary.
5.
Jim Clyburn's endorsement came at a time when Biden's campaign had suffered three disappointing finishes in the Iowa and Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
6.
Jim Clyburn was born in Sumter, South Carolina, the son of Enos Lloyd Jim Clyburn, a fundamentalist minister, and his wife Almeta, a beautician.
7.
Jim Clyburn was graduated from Mather Academy in Camden, South Carolina, then attended South Carolina State College, an historically black college in Orangeburg.
8.
Jim Clyburn joined the Omega Psi Phi fraternity and was graduated with a baccalaureate in history.
9.
Jim Clyburn became involved in politics during the 1969 Charleston hospital strike.
10.
Jim Clyburn came up with the campaign's slogan, "Devine for Ward Nine".
11.
Jim Clyburn later credited that campaign as the reason he got into electoral politics.
12.
West called Jim Clyburn and offered him a job as his advisor after reading Jim Clyburn's response to his loss in the newspaper.
13.
Jim Clyburn served in this position until 1992, when he stepped down to run for Congress.
14.
Jim Clyburn was the first African-American to represent South Carolina in Congress since George W Murray in 1893.
15.
Jim Clyburn has been reelected 15 times with no substantive Republican opposition.
16.
In 2023, ProPublica reported that Jim Clyburn secretly worked with South Carolina Republicans during the 2020 Congressional redistricting process to dilute the state's Black vote.
17.
Jim Clyburn was elected vice-chairman of the House Democratic Caucus in 2003, the caucus's third-ranking post.
18.
Jim Clyburn became chair of the House Democratic Caucus in early 2006 after caucus chair Bob Menendez was appointed to the Senate.
19.
Jim Clyburn would have faced a challenge from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rahm Emanuel, but Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi persuaded Emanuel to run for Democratic Caucus chair.
20.
Jim Clyburn was interviewed by National Public Radio's Morning Edition on January 12,2007, and acknowledged the difficulty of counting votes and rallying the fractious Democratic caucus while his party held the House majority.
21.
Pelosi ran for Minority Leader in order to remain the House party leader, while Jim Clyburn announced that he would challenge Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat and outgoing Majority Leader, for Minority Whip.
22.
Jim Clyburn had the support of the Congressional Black Caucus, which wanted to keep an African-American in the House leadership, while Hoyer had 35 public endorsements, including three standing committee chairs.
23.
On November 28,2018, Jim Clyburn was elected to serve his second stint as House Majority Whip.
24.
Jim Clyburn is regarded as liberal in his political stances, actions and votes.
25.
Jim Clyburn identifies as a progressive, but thinks the Democratic Party's more liberal wing should be "practical".
26.
Jim Clyburn has established liberal stances on health care, education, organized labor and environmental conservation issues, based on his legislative actions as well as evaluations and ratings by pertinent interest groups.
27.
In 2009, Jim Clyburn introduced the Access for All Americans Act.
28.
The American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, The Children's Health Fund, and other health care interest groups rate Jim Clyburn highly based on his voting record on pertinent issues.
29.
Jim Clyburn has continuously sought new and additional funding for education.
30.
Jim Clyburn has gained additional funding for special education and lower interest rates on federal student loans.
31.
Jim Clyburn has consistently voted for increases in minimum wage income and to restrict employer interference with labor union organization.
32.
Jim Clyburn has opposed legislation to increase offshore drilling for oil or natural gas.
33.
Jim Clyburn pushed for a 2010 contract to convert plutonium from old weapons into nuclear fuel.
34.
Jim Clyburn was one of 31 House Democrats who voted not to count Ohio's 20 electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election.
35.
On July 31,2007, Jim Clyburn said in a broadcast interview that it would be a "real big problem" for the Democratic Party if General David Petraeus issued a positive report in September, as it would split the Democratic caucus on whether to continue to fund the Iraq War.
36.
Jim Clyburn was officially neutral during the 2008 primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but former President Bill Clinton blamed Jim Clyburn for Hillary's 29-point defeat in the South Carolina primary and the two of them had a heated telephone conversation.
37.
On December 19,1998, Jim Clyburn voted against all four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
38.
On December 18,2019, Jim Clyburn voted for both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
39.
On January 13,2021, one week after the January 6 United States Capitol attack, Jim Clyburn voted for the single article of impeachment against Trump.
40.
In January 2017, Jim Clyburn voted against a House resolution condemning the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which called Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank a "flagrant violation" of international law and a major obstacle to peace.
41.
Jim Clyburn voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
42.
In 1996, Jim Clyburn voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act.
43.
In 2012, after Obama's public endorsement of same-sex marriage, Jim Clyburn said in an interview that he too supported same-sex marriage.
44.
Jim Clyburn was one of the 31 who voted in the House not to count Ohio's electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election amid a dispute over irregularities.
45.
Former President Bill Clinton accused Jim Clyburn of being responsible for Hillary's 29-point defeat in South Carolina, while Jim Clyburn criticized Bill Clinton's comments on race comparing Obama's win to that of Jesse Jackson.
46.
In 2024, amidst calls from other Democrats for Biden to withdraw from his 2024 presidential campaign, Jim Clyburn stated his support for Biden, but that he would back Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate if Biden were to withdraw, which eventually came to happen.
47.
Jim Clyburn was married to librarian Emily England Jim Clyburn from 1961 until her death in 2019.
48.
In 2024, Jim Clyburn was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.