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Thomas Sanders McMillan (Ulmer, November 27, 1888 – Charleston, September 29, 1939) was an American politician, member of the House of Representatives for the state of South Carolina from 1925 to 1939.
McMillan with Republican M. Clyde Kelly during the 1926 Congressional Baseball Game
Born in Allendale County, McMillan graduated from Orangeburg Collegiate Institute in 1907 and worked as a school teacher in Perry for two years. He then enrolled at the University of South Carolina, where he graduated in 1912. In 1913 he completed the college’s law course and was licensed to practice law. He then moved to Charleston where he began working in the legal field[1].
Along with his work as a lawyer, McMillan added political work: from 1917 to 1924 he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and served as speaker of the assembly from 1923 to 1924.[1]. Additionally, he was the head baseball coach at The Citadel military academy from 1916 to 1919; before becoming a lawyer, in fact, Thomas McMillan was a professional baseball player in the South Atlantic League for five years[2].
In 1924 he was elected to the House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party[3]. In the following years, voters reconfirmed him for another six terms. McMillan is a member of the Appropriations Committee and has a particular interest in foreign policy issues[1]so while in Congress, he was a member of the executive committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union[4] in 1937 to 1939.
Thomas McMillan died suddenly on November 29, 1939, at the age of fifty[5]. After his death, a special election was called to replace his seat as deputy, which his wife Clara won; the widow McMillan completed her husband’s last term, which ended on January 3, 1941 and retired from political life.[6].