Arthur Ravenel Jr.

Arthur Ravenel Jr. (March 29, 1927 – January 16, 2023) was an American businessman and a Republican politician. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina's 1st congressional district. He served from 1987 through 1995.
Ravenel Jr. decided not to run for re-election in 1994, to run for Governor instead, but lost in the Republican primaries to David Beasley.
In 2005, Ravenel Jr. suffered from Guillain–Barré syndrome. The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, near the Cooper River, is named after him.
Ravenel was a member of Moultrie Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and was a supporter of the Confederate flag being flown at the South Carolina statehouse. He made controversy at a rally for the flag in 2000 when he called the NAACP as the “National Association for Retarded People”. Ravenel upset even more people after he apologized to mentally handicapped people for comparing them to the NAACP.
Ravenel died on January 16, 2023 at the age of 95.