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Episode 200 JOHN JENRETTE OUR CONGRESSMAN and JIMMY CARTER too (Part 10) The Accomplishments of Our Congressman John Jenrette while in Congress
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In this episode we look back at several of the accomplishments of John Jenrette's time in the United States House of Representative. In many ways it laid the groundwork for much of the enormous growth we have seen in our region over the past 40 plus years.
We will look at the start of the Tourism and Travel Caucus that allowed the tourism industry to finally have a group in Congress to protect its interests and help the nation develop a strategy to make the industry grow. And grow it has to a 1.2 Trillion Dollar industry that employs one in ten Americans all over the country. John Jenrette created the Tourism and Travel Caucus and it is still in existence today. The fact is that John Jenrette, then representing a regional tourism destination, had put Myrtle Beach on the map as the leader in tourism innovation and in a place of leadership for the industry. Today the Grand Strand welcomes 20 million tourists annually.
John Jenrette was also a leader in protecting the interest of small farmers in an era when Agribusiness was taking over the Agriculture world. Secretary Earl Butts was the face of Farming policy in America and his philosophy was "Go big or go home" and that put America's small farmers at an enormous disadvantage. However, in Congress the small farmer had one true champion to keep that mentality in check and it was universally seen as Congressman John Jenrette. From defending the pesticide Miramax to fight fire ants, to investigating prices during the era of price controls in order to protect the small farmers, John Jenrette also tripled the exemption on the inheritance tax so that those small farmers, and small business people for that matter too, were protected from having to sell their family farms because they had ended up land rich but cash poor, a benefit that is still protecting the common man to this day.
Finally, it was in constituent service that John Jenrette had a record that is the stuff of legend. He helped any and everyone who came to him for help. One of the most consequential is the help he gave a future member of the South Carolina Hall of Fame, Ron McNair. A man who dreamed of becoming an Astronaut, who grew up in the segregated southern town of Lake City , South Carolina. He would go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earn a doctorate in science. In an era when there were over 10,000 applications to get into the NASA Space Program, Ron McNair applied and then went to his friend Thelma McClam who worked for Congressman John Jenrette to see if he could get help to get in the program.
In this episode we tell the story of how John Jenrette worked overtime to win over the entire South Carolina Congressional delegation and then the President of the United States in order to help Ron McNair get in the Space Program. Ron McNair today is seen as a hero to people all over America, especially in South Carolina and in his hometown of Lake City, S. C.
Finally we will tell the story of the building of the Georgetown Bridge over the Sampit River. A bridge John Jenrette got raised to over 60 feet and opened Georgetown County up to easy commerce. It is a physical symbol of the enormous success he was able to accomplish for his state in his 6 years in Congress.
Questions or comments at , [email protected] , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
Please Leave us a review at wherever you get your podcasts
Thanks for listening!!
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By Randal Wallace
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Send us a text
In this episode we look back at several of the accomplishments of John Jenrette's time in the United States House of Representative. In many ways it laid the groundwork for much of the enormous growth we have seen in our region over the past 40 plus years.
We will look at the start of the Tourism and Travel Caucus that allowed the tourism industry to finally have a group in Congress to protect its interests and help the nation develop a strategy to make the industry grow. And grow it has to a 1.2 Trillion Dollar industry that employs one in ten Americans all over the country. John Jenrette created the Tourism and Travel Caucus and it is still in existence today. The fact is that John Jenrette, then representing a regional tourism destination, had put Myrtle Beach on the map as the leader in tourism innovation and in a place of leadership for the industry. Today the Grand Strand welcomes 20 million tourists annually.
John Jenrette was also a leader in protecting the interest of small farmers in an era when Agribusiness was taking over the Agriculture world. Secretary Earl Butts was the face of Farming policy in America and his philosophy was "Go big or go home" and that put America's small farmers at an enormous disadvantage. However, in Congress the small farmer had one true champion to keep that mentality in check and it was universally seen as Congressman John Jenrette. From defending the pesticide Miramax to fight fire ants, to investigating prices during the era of price controls in order to protect the small farmers, John Jenrette also tripled the exemption on the inheritance tax so that those small farmers, and small business people for that matter too, were protected from having to sell their family farms because they had ended up land rich but cash poor, a benefit that is still protecting the common man to this day.
Finally, it was in constituent service that John Jenrette had a record that is the stuff of legend. He helped any and everyone who came to him for help. One of the most consequential is the help he gave a future member of the South Carolina Hall of Fame, Ron McNair. A man who dreamed of becoming an Astronaut, who grew up in the segregated southern town of Lake City , South Carolina. He would go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earn a doctorate in science. In an era when there were over 10,000 applications to get into the NASA Space Program, Ron McNair applied and then went to his friend Thelma McClam who worked for Congressman John Jenrette to see if he could get help to get in the program.
In this episode we tell the story of how John Jenrette worked overtime to win over the entire South Carolina Congressional delegation and then the President of the United States in order to help Ron McNair get in the Space Program. Ron McNair today is seen as a hero to people all over America, especially in South Carolina and in his hometown of Lake City, S. C.
Finally we will tell the story of the building of the Georgetown Bridge over the Sampit River. A bridge John Jenrette got raised to over 60 feet and opened Georgetown County up to easy commerce. It is a physical symbol of the enormous success he was able to accomplish for his state in his 6 years in Congress.
Questions or comments at , [email protected] , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
Please Leave us a review at wherever you get your podcasts
Thanks for listening!!
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