♪ Andrew Gobeil> Today on "The Big Picture," a South Carolina Civil Rights leader becomes one of the most powerful men in the Congress.

>> I think Jim Clyburn's life really says a lot about South Carolina and what has happened over the years.

>> Welcome to "The Big Picture."

I'm Andrew Gobeil.

The Palmetto State has a long history of politicians who have made their mark in the nation's capital.

The focus of tonight's show is no different.

What is different is the way this politician got his start.

From fighting civil rights battles to assuming the third most powerful spot in the House.

It's Mr.

Clyburn of South Carolina.

♪ >> And so, Jim, I have here for you-- >> Jim Clyburn> [chuckles] >> --the weapon of the whip.

Alex Sanders> History was made in January 2007 when James E. Clyburn became House Majority Whip, the first South Carolinian to reach such a high position in the United States Congress.

For Clyburn, it was a culmination of a lifelong commitment to public service.

His passion for politics that began in childhood propelled him through defeat and victory to stand as the third most powerful person in Congress.

♪ >> Hello, I'm Alex Sanders.

It took Jim Clyburn 52 years to get elected to public office.

He lost three elections on his way to becoming a U.S.

Congressman.

To say that he is a driven man is an understatement.

From the day he first ventured into politics in high school, his persistence and determination have been his hallmark.

The story of Jim Clyburn is not so much where he is now, but how he got there.

Underneath all that drive and success is a "political soil" rich as the fields of his hometown of Sumter.

In everything he has achieved, Clyburn points back to his upbringing by a politically active mother and a fundamentalist father.

>> I don't ever remember not being involved politically in one way or another.

Growing up in my household, there were two rules that we had to abide by.

Every morning, at the breakfast table, we all had to recite a Bible verse.

And you couldn't say the same one twice.

And it was my parents' way of making sure that we read the Bible daily.

And then, every evening, after doing our homework, before retiring to bed, we had to share with our parents some kind of a current event.

And of course, they never told us to read the newspapers, but we didn't have television.

It was just either the radio or the newspapers.

>> If you look at Jim Clyburn's personal story, and you started with his birth in 1940-- African-American kids born in Sumter, South Carolina in 1940-- and if somebody had said then, "This kid is going to be the most powerful South Carolinian to ever have served in Washington, D.C.," everybody would have said you were stark raving mad.

For starters, an African-American born in 1940 didn't have an opportunity to finish high school because it wasn't offered to African-Americans in 1940.

Didn't exist.

So the idea that someone born as an African American in 1940 was going to wind up in 2007 as the most powerful South Carolinian to ever serve in Washington was a preposterous notion.

Alex> It was during his years at South Carolina State College that Clyburn emerged as a politician and a civil rights advocate.

His on-campus politics spilled over into the civil rights struggle in the 1950s and '60s.

During this time, he crossed paths with the state's civil rights icons of the day, Matthew Perry and I. DeQuincey Newman It was also the time when he met his wife, Emily England, a fellow student who was from Moncks Corner.

Clyburn> I'll never forget the night before the first demonstration.

I can remember it just like it was yesterday.

And I had just all kinds of-- I guess they were nightmares, I mean, all night.

When I woke up the next morning, I had the--right here where there's no hair now was a gray patch, happened in my sleep that night.

I'll never forget that.

>> These were very trying times, and a lot of people got arrested.

And my husband was one of those.

And we went down to the courthouse, and he expressed the opinion that, "You know, I'm very hungry."

So I had 50¢ or whatever, and I went and bought him, bought a hamburger, (Jim laughs) which really sounds incredible, but it was the truth.

And we, I, went back into the courthouse, and I divided that hamburger about as equally in half as one could imagine, and I gave him half, and I ate the other half.

And, you know, 46 years later, we are still an item.

It was really true about the hamburger.

Alex> Jim and Emily Clyburn were married in 1961 and moved to Charleston where he taught high school history and she worked as a librarian.

Later, Clyburn headed a program for migrant and seasonal workers.

In 1970, he made his first venture into elective politics.

Although he lost the race, he impressed the newly elected governor, John West, who made him the first Black on a South Carolina governor's staff since Reconstruction.

During those years, he became known as a determined but fair advocate for civil rights.

>> It was a huge transition from Clyburn being a non-participant-- and in many ways, his whole life had been disallowed from participating in government and politics-- to he's suddenly a principal staff person of the governor of the state dealing with issues that were the most predominant issues of that era and of Governor West's governorship.

Governor West and Congressman-- now Congressman Clyburn, Jim Clyburn, worked hard to persuade the legislature to create the Human Affairs Commission, an entity dedicated to protecting the rights of minorities.

And four years later, you have Jim Clyburn-- that same Jim Clyburn-- heading that agency.

>> Now and then, you really need a Stokely Carmichael, a Rap Brown,and a Kay Patterson.

You...now and then, you need them to get people's attention.

But after I've gotten their attention, you also need a Jim Clyburn and a John Wesley Matthews and a Herb Fielding to come along and act rational and intelligent, and at least act like they've taken their Ritalin pill [laughing] for that day, and settle down and get the work done.

>> And I can just remember back when we were-- the Human Affairs Commission was really struggling, trying to get deferral status.

Deferral status is something that very few states in the Deep South had at that time.

How he was able to basically maneuver with the South Carolina state senate, members of the House of Representatives, to get things done in this state.

And South Carolina has one of the strongest anti-discrimination laws in this country.

As a matter of fact, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, a lot of those states pattern their anti-discrimination laws after the ones that were developed here in South Carolina under the leadership of Jim Clyburn.

>> When I became governor, everybody, I guess, was expecting me to clean out everybody, and particularly Clyburn.

He was chairman of the Human Affairs Commission.

And everybody was expecting me to remove Jim Clyburn and put my man in there.

And to start with, I looked at Jim, I knew Jim, I knew he was intelligent, I knew he was capable, and I said to myself, I'm going to reappoint him.

And Jim has always appreciated it.

And John West seemed to appreciate it too because John had chosen him.

And I always was very proud of keeping him there.

>> I think Jim Clyburn's life really says a lot about South Carolina and what has happened over the years.

But I would say, he's a part of that change.

He's one of those leaders who emerged, and the sign of a good leader is the people around them believe in what they're doing.

His staff people always loved him and loved to work for him, and so did the people he worked with, Democrats and Republicans.

And he has been part of the...enormous changes that have taken place in South Carolina.

But a lot has happened.

A lot of good things have happened.

We still have a long way to go, but Jim Clyburn has been a leader for good change for South Carolina.

Alex> While serving as head of the Human Affairs Commission under three governors, Clyburn tried twice to get elected to the post of secretary of state.

Both times, he was unsuccessful.

Like his earlier loss in Charleston, he came out of the elections undaunted and politically wiser.

>> Right after I won in 1970, won the primary, we had this great celebration, man.

People were down at the Francis Marion Hotel.

There were parties.

A bunch of students that I had helped go to Wilberforce University had come home to volunteer in the campaign.

They were now back in school.

I'll never forget.

They called in to the hall that night, and this young lady ran up to me and said she had just gotten this call from the students at Wilberforce... "and when I told them that you had won, they tore up the place."

I mean, it was just-- everybody was having fun.

Got home that night,... things were quieter.

The next morning, I got up, and there on my sink in my bathroom was a little note from Emily.

And the note said, "When you win, brag gently.

When you lose, weep softly."

That's what it said.

So I knew, before I walked out the house that night-- I mean that morning-- that she was telling me, "Be careful how you talk about winning."

And I was very careful.

And I never forgot that.

And so in November, the results were different, and I lost.

And the reason I was able to weep softly is because of that note.

>> I think the only time me and Jim Clyburn ever had-- can I say-- a cross word with each other, we were playing a softball game.

And we had a pretty good softball team.

And, you know, I didn't take it seriously.

I said--well, you know, we were out here, and I think we were undefeated.

And the guy hit a ball out in the outfield, and I kind of lazily went after it.

And he just kind of chewed me out, and we kind of went at each other.

And I said, "Well, man, it's just a game."

He says, "Look, I play to win.

Whether it's softball, politics, I play to win.

If you don't want to win, you don't need to be on my team."

And so I say that kind of tongue in cheek.

That's the kind of individual that he is.

He plays to win.

He says, "You know, it's fun to come out and have fun, but it's even more fun to come out and win."

>> Jim is a cleanup hitter.

He's a guy that's going to come up to bat and probably not lay down a sacrifice bunt.

He's going for the home run and drive in a lot of runs and win the game.

So I think if you look at that in the context of his approach to these jobs, he's probably not going to be the guy that pays a lot of attention to unimportant, minor issues, but if you get him in a position in Congress where he's got a responsibility as the Majority Whip or as an advocate of a piece of legislation, that's what he's going to be doing.

He's going to be working to win big battles.

He's going to be that cleanup hitter that's in there to win the game.

>> Jim is the kind of person who sets a goal, and he will not retreat from it.

Now, some folk will think he's retreating, but he'll just be advancing in a different direction.

He's an optimist, always had been.

He sees the glass as half full rather than half empty all the time.

Cool, even-headed, levelheaded, don't run from a fight... but don't get in a fight with him unless you expect to lose that battle.

[chuckles] Alex> Jim Clyburn's determination to win put him back into elective politics one more time.

In 1992, he ran for the U.S.

Congress to represent the Sixth District, a district that stretches from Columbia to Charleston.

This time, he was successful, getting 56 percent of the vote in a crowded five-candidate primary and easily winning the general election.

He took office in 1993 on the same mission he'd championed back in the 1960s.

>> All of that was to prove that...Black people could run state agencies in South Carolina.

And when I got elected to Congress, I set out to prove that a Black person could be an effective Congressman and represent the people of South Carolina.

And I figured if I could do it, run a state agency that way, then that would get rid of that myth.

And I try to do the same thing in Congress right now so I can get rid of that myth.

And that's why I conduct myself the way I do, because I want to destroy every single myth that exists about Black people.

Alex> Of all the issues he's dealt with in his years in Congress, the most difficult one has been his proposal to build a bridge across Lake Marion... a bridge some have called "The Bridge to Nowhere."

When he talks about the bridge, like many other issues, he frames his words in the state's history.

In the case of the bridge, Clyburn points to the construction of Lake Marion in the early 1940s that bisected Black communities in the Santee region.

Clyburn> So then, I look at Lake Marion and the people who objected to the lake coming.

And people who got accommodated were wealthy landowners who didn't live in the area.

They just had land to come down and hunt and stuff.

But the people who lived in the area, the promises made to them were not kept.

And people can say anything they want to say, to people who want to revise history.

But the fact of the matter is these promises were made to people.

And this bridge is one of the promises made to the people in this area.

Alex> Far from the bridge controversy and the rigors of Congress.

There's another side to Jim Clyburn.

His passion for the game of golf is second only to his passion for politics.

Every summer, he heads up a golf tournament in Santee to raise money for South Carolina college students.

Over the years it has funded more than $650,000 in cash and awards for college-bound students.

In the most recent tournament, Clyburn's oldest friends endured sweltering temperatures to play golf and talk about their friend and golf partner.

>> Jim has never changed.

Jim is the same Jim that I knew back at Mather Academy in 1957, the same Jim that I knew when we graduated in 1961 from South Carolina State.

And I have to admire him for that because of knowing a lot of people that I've known over the years had that happen with them.

We're still like this after 50 years, practically, we've known each other.

And he's still the same, everyday Jim.

>> You could look up him, and he could be your model.

Like I say, if he write a book or something, it'll be an interesting book to read because he'll you how to-- even here in Santee, he told me when he was a little boy, he used to come around here with a horse and buggy with his daddy.

And he said, "I told myself and told my daddy "One day, Daddy, I'm going to live down in this area," and sure enough, his dreams came true.

He provided, improvised.

He made it happen.

So when he set his mind up to do something, he have a way of reaching his goal, which is beautiful.

>> His life has changed because there are a lot more people that-- if we go somewhere-- who want to stop and talk to him now.

That's a--every place we go, if we stop to eat lunch or if we--there is always someone who wants to have a chat with the Whip.

And so it's just interesting to be on the sideline and watch it because it's-- they're people that I know and prominent people that I don't necessarily know.

All of them, they want to kind of have a little time with the Congressman, and I just sort of just step to the side and wait because I said this is part of the day-to-day activity when we're together.

Alex> With Clyburn's success in Washington, there's less time for golf.

His rise through the ranks of Congress has been steady and marked by his ability to reach across the aisle.

In the process he's gained respect from his fellow congressmen in both parties and is able get their support for projects back home.

Rep.

Henry Brown> I'm proud of Jim.

I'm proud of his accomplishment.

And he's a competent guy.

And I think to have him, from South Carolina, particularly sharing those counties with me, and...I'm in the First Congressional District and, of course, he's in the Sixth.

But anyway, the culmination of our expertise and our love for the Lowcountry is pretty important.

>> One of the ways he leads is not by commanding or by barking commands and by insisting upon this or getting heavy-handed or twisting arms.

It's by virtue of the respect that he's gained, earned, in the House of Representatives.

People, out of respect for him, when he speaks, they listen.

When he speaks, he speaks sense, too.

No highfalutin rhetoric.

Nothing like that.

Jim has a way of getting to the essence of things such that members can understand why they need to vote for this and why it's a good thing for the party, it's a good thing for the country.

He has a very, very effective way of summing an issue up.

>> There's also a partisan dimension to this.

Jim Clyburn's a Democrat.

The dominant partisan influence in South Carolina now is Republican.

And there are some people, quite honestly, who are reluctant to approach Jim because of the partisan differences.

And I think that's unfortunate, because Jim Clyburn is willing to help anybody.

It doesn't make any difference whether they're Republicans or Independents or whether they don't vote at all.

Jim Clyburn is willing to help.

And I wish that some of the business and social leaders in South Carolina were a little more willing to take advantage of what he can do for South Carolina than they are.

Edwards> I think South Carolina will definitely benefit from his being in that position.

And I don't think he's going to overly play the card of being a South Carolinian-- because he's from South Carolina, he wants to bring home the bacon.

I think he will bring home the bacon, as they say.

In spite of all the debate about pork, I think every now and then, a little chunk of bacon tastes pretty good.

Alex> After realizing his lifelong dream of serving in Congress and his 14 years of steady movement through the halls of power, Clyburn has arrived at an historic position for a South Carolina politician.

The importance of his new role both in his state and in the nation is not lost on his friends and colleagues back home.

>> He's a historic figure who understands the seriousness and the importance that, that carries with it.

He's not only a student of history but he realizes that he's making history as South Carolina's first Black congressman since Reconstruction.

He knows how important that role is and his service in that role is, perhaps more so-- I think that gives him a bigger burden, a bigger opportunity, but also gives him a gravitas, perhaps, that some of his colleagues from South Carolina don't have since he knows that he is going to be, for the time being, the example of what an African-American congressman from South Carolina is.

He is the only one to point to.

>> Observing him in that position affords me a high level of satisfaction and admiration.

I'm so pleased that a young man that I know personally-- and who I feel I have had some impact by reason of our relationship-- I'm so pleased and thrilled to see him in that position.

>> He has been like a mentor to so many young Black persons, and not only young Black persons but even older Black persons throughout-- And so many people are guided by Jim's actions.

And I think that even today, young folks look at Jim and say that's what they'd like to be later on.

>> Jim is just not going to sit back and be led by anyone unless they have South Carolina in mind.

I mean, he loves South Carolina.

And I just love to hear him talk about the South Carolina's motto, "While I breathe, I hope."

And he actually lives that way.

Clyburn> I think I've done pretty well inside the Congress where the vast majority of the Democratic Caucus in the United States House of Representatives have demonstrated their faith and confidence in me.

They've voted me the vice chair of their caucus.

They've voted me the chair of their caucus.

Now they've voted me the whip in that caucus, which is the third position in the caucus.

And so I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to keep faith with the voters of South Carolina, keep faith with my colleagues in the caucus, all the time removing those myths that exist about Black people.

Alex> Jim Clyburn's public life began in 1970 with a failed campaign for the state House of Representatives and has stretched to the heights of the U.S.

Congress.

Along the way, He and his wife raised three daughters, Mignon, Angela and Jennifer.

True to his upbringing, he's tried to set the same example for his own children, that his parents set for him.

>> My father told us that anybody that makes a dollar ought to be able to save a nickel.

We were, it was ingrained in us to save.

It was ingrained in us to give.

He believed very strongly in tithing, that you tithe.

Now, it's kind of interesting that, being a minister, he also made it very clear that tithing wasn't necessarily putting money in the collection plate at church.

He believed in world service.

He believed in missionary work.

He believed in charity and giving, and he used to quote the Bible all the time, "...faith, hope and charity, "and the greatest of these, is charity," which was the Biblical--or is the Biblical word for love.

And so, all these things were just engrained in me, and I live by them today.

I just, I just do.

I just feel it's a part of me to give back.

Alex> Clyburn's political life has been true to his parents' legacy of involvement, compassion and hope.

From taking part in the civil rights struggle, to mentoring young people, to serving in public office, he believes his mission has been to better his state and its people.

In speeches, he often quotes the state's motto, "While I breathe, I hope".

And he looks back to his parents who gave him hope, hope that he could achieve anything, hope that he could make others believe that too.

♪ ♪ ♪ The E is for educational.