Byrnes, James F (Francis) (1879–1972)

US secretary of state and public official. As a Senator he promoted the passage of landmark legislation such as the Neutrality Act in 1935, and the Lend-Lease Act in 1941. He accompanied President Franklin D Roosevelt to Yalta in 1945, and served as secretary of state under President Truman 1945–47.

He was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served the US House of Representatives (Democrat, South Carolina; 1910–25) and the Senate (Democrat, South Carolina; 1930–41) He was appointed to the US Supreme Court in 1941. He headed the Office of Economic Stabilization (1942) and then the Office of War Mobilization (1943). The title of ‘assistant president’ was bestowed on him by Roosevelt. He was considered as a running mate both in 1940 and 1944. As governor of South Carolina (1950–55), despite his belief in segregation, he worked to suppress Ku Klux Klan activities and to improve the education of black Americans.