Athletes

• Luther Broughton (born 1974), NFL player

• Nehemiah Broughton (born 1982), NFL player

• Kwame Brown (born 1982), basketball player

• Garrett Chisolm (born 1988), NFL player

• Beth Daniel (born 1956), professional golfer

• Zola Davis (born 1975), NFL and XFL player

• Carlos Dunlap (born 1989), NFL player

• Oronde Gadsden (born 1971), NFL player

• AJ Green (born 1988), NFL player

• Harold Green (born 1968), NFL player

• Anthony Johnson (born 1974), NBA player

• Katrina McClain Johnson (born 1965), Olympic gold medalist; retired WNBA player

• Byron Maxwell (born 1988), NFL player

• David Meggett (born 1966), NFL player

• Bud Moore (born 1941), NASCAR driver

• Langston Moore (born 1981), former NFL player

• Ovie Mughelli (born 1980), NFL player

• Josh Powell (born 1983), NBA player

• Laron Profit (born 1977), NBA player

• Robert Quinn (born 1990), NFL player

• Art Shell (born 1946), NFL player and coach

• Roddy White (born 1981), NFL player

• Khris Middleton (born 1991), NBA player

• Edmond Robinson (born 1992), NFL player

• Brandon Shell (born 1992), NFL player

Entertainers

• Angry Grandpa (born 1950), internet personality

• Stephen Colbert (born 1964), comedian

• Joel Derfner (born 1973), musical theater composer

• Andy Dick (born 1965), comedian

• Thomas Gibson (born 1962), actor

• Shanola Hampton (born 1977), actress

• Lauren Hutton (born 1943), actress

• Mabel King (1932–99), actress

• Logan Marshall-Green (born 1976), actor

• Will Patton (born 1954), actor

• Grace Peixotto (born 1817), madam^[1]

• Darius Rucker (born 1966), lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish, and country star

• Elise Testone (born 1983), singer, American Idol contestant

• Melanie Thornton (1967–2001), singer, member of La Bouche

Military figures

• Mark Wayne Clark (1896–1984), United States Army general; Supreme commander of the United Nations Command

• Samuel Wragg Ferguson (1834–1917), Confederate States Army general

• Benjamin Huger (1805–1877), Confederate States Army general

• Stephen Dill Lee (1833–1908), Confederate States Army general; 1st president of Mississippi State University

• Robert Charlwood Richardson, Jr. (1882–1954), United States Army general

• William Childs Westmoreland (1914–2005), United States Army general; 25th chief of staff of the United States Army

Political figures

• William Aiken, Jr. (1806–1887), Governor of South Carolina^[2]

• Judah P. Benjamin (1811–1884), U.S. Senator from Louisiana, Confederate States Secretary of State and Attorney General

• James Francis Byrnes (1879–1972), U.S. Representative and Senator, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary of State, and Governor of South Carolina

• Floride Calhoun (1792–1866), Second Lady of the United States; wife of John C. Calhoun

• John C. Calhoun (1782–1850), U.S. Representative and Senator, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of War

• Henry William de Saussure (1763–1839), second director of United States Mint; intendant (mayor) of Charleston

• William Drayton, Sr. (1733–1790), associate justice of South Carolina Supreme Court^[2]

• Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), American Revolutionary War leader

• James Gadsden (1788–1858), U.S. minister to Mexico; president of the South Carolina Railroad Company

• Robert Young Hayne (1791–1839), Mayor of Charleston 1836–1837; United States Senator 1823–1833; Governor of South Carolina^[3]

• Thomas Heyward, Jr. (1746–1809), signer of the Declaration of Independence

• Fritz Hollings (born 1922), United States Senator from South Carolina; Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina

• James Ladson (1753–1812), American revolutionary and lieutenant governor of South Carolina

• Henry Laurens (1724–1792), American Revolutionary War leader

• Burnet Maybank (1899–1954), Charleston mayor 1931–1935; South Carolina governor 1939–1941; United States Senator from South Carolina^[4]

• Burnet Maybank III, lawyer; two-time head of South Carolina Department of Revenue

• Christopher Memminger (1803–1888), signer of the Confederate States Constitution; Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury 1861–1864

• William Porcher Miles (1822–1899), lawyer; Mayor of Charleston 1855-1857; U.S. Representative from South Carolina; member of the Confederate Congress; designed the Confederate battle flag^[5]

• Thomas Parker (1760–1820), U.S. District Attorney for S.C. 1792–1820; married daughter of William Henry Drayton, Mary Drayton^[6]

• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825), American Revolutionary War leader; United States Ambassador to France; Federalist candidate for President in the 1804 and 1808 United States presidential elections

• Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779–1851), botanist, politician, and diplomat; U.S. Representative; United States Ambassador to Mexico, Secretary of War; founded precursor to the Smithsonian Institution; namesake of the poinsettia

• Joseph P. Riley, Jr. (born 1943), Mayor of Charleston 1975-2015

• Joseph O. Rogers, Jr. (1921–1999), member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Clarendon County 1955–1966; Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1966; reared in Charleston; spent adult years in Manning

• Edward Rutledge, signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence; Governor of South Carolina, 1798-1800

• John Rutledge, President of South Carolina, 1776-1778; Commander and Chief of South Carolina forces during Revolutionary War; Governor of South Carolina, 1779-1782; second Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; signed the U.S. Constitution

• James Skivring Smith (1825–1884), President of Liberia, 1871-1872

• George Alfred Trenholm (1807–1876), Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury

• Bill Workman (born 1940), Charleston native; mayor of Greenville, 1983-1995; economic development specialist

Scientists

• Robert Furchgott (1916–2009), biochemist and Nobel Laureate

• Ernest Everett Just (1883–1941), biologist

• William Charles Wells (1757–1817), physician

Writers and artists

• Frank Birnbaum, 20th century Jewish cantor

• David Carson (born 1956), graphic designer

• Joel Derfner (born 1973), writer

• Shepard Fairey (1970), artist known for Andre the Giant "Obey" and Barack Obama "Hope" stencil pieces

• Arthur Freed (1894–1973), Hollywood producer, composer, and writer

• Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. (1911–2001), author, Cheaper by the Dozen

• Dubose Heyward (1885–1940), writer and lyricist, Porgy and Bess

• Jessica Hische (born 1984), illustrator

• Robert Jordan (1948–2007), novelist, author of The Wheel of Time series

• Alexandra Ripley (1934–2004), author, Scarlett

• Stella F Simon (1878–1973), photographer

• Philip Simmons (1912–2009), ironworker

• William Gilmore Simms (1806–1870), poet, novelist, and historian

• Merton Simpson, (born 1928), abstract expressionist artist, African art collector, musician

• Frank Lebby Stanton (1857–1927), lyricist; columnist for the Atlanta Constitution; author of the lyrics of "Just Awearyin' for You"

• Norb Vonnegut (born 1958), author

• Nikki DuBose (born 1985), former model turned author and activist

Other

• William Abbott, manager of the New Charleston Theatre ^[2]

• Garland Bayliss, historian and administrator at Texas A&M University; taught at the Citadel in the mid-1950s^[7]

• Rick Brewer (born 1956), former administrator at Charleston Southern University; current president of Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana^[8]

• Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987), educator, civil rights activist; "grandmother" of the Civil Rights Movement"

• Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (1905–1968), well-known African American mob boss

• Sallie Krawcheck (born 1964), Citigroup chief financial officer

• Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), firebrand rancher from whom the term "maverick" was coined

• Robert Mills (1781–1855), architect

• Vanessa Minnillo (born 1980), Miss USA 1998, MTV VJ, and Entertainment Tonight correspondent

• George B. Rabb, zoologist

• David Stahl (1949–2010), conductor

• Elizabeth Timothy, first female newspaper publisher in America

• Lewis Timothy, first American librarian

• Denmark Vesey (1767–1822), freedman tried and executed for allegedly plotting a slave revolt

• J. Waites Waring (1880–1968), United States District Court for District of South Carolina judge; part of three-judge panel that heard school desegregation case Briggs v. Elliott