19 IslandVibesIOP.com LIFESTYLE Editor’s Note: This lifestyle feature is a two-part series from the archives of Isle of Palms Magazine (Spring 2016). The following is a continuation of the article published in our November issue. (Part II): Mr. Hartnett Goes to Washington While Ronald Reagan was changing the national political landscape with his landslide victory in 1980, Tommy Hartnett was doing some landscaping of his own back in Charleston. In running for Congress in the 1st District, he was challenging 102 years of Democratic control and also a well-known opponent. Charles “Pug” Ravenel had run unsuccessfully for governor in 1974 and against Strom Thurmond for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1978. Hartnett won a close race and moved the family to the Washington area. “It was a thrilling time for the whole Still at Home on the Island Former U.S. Rep. Tommy Hartnett By Brian Barrie family. The kids were young, Bonnie was young. I was excited about it,” Hartnett recalled. “We packed up at Christmas in 1980, rented a house in Alexandria and moved up there. Everyone was enthusiastic.” Hartnett was elected as the president of an exceptionally large freshman class of congressional Republicans, a position that gave him much more access than most newly-elected congressmen. “I got to meet with the president, fly on Air Force One, sit in the cabinet room with the president and the leaders of the party,” explained Hartnett. “I really liked that, but it wore on me family-wise and otherwise constantly coming back and forth to Washington.” During his campaign, Hartnett had pledged to serve no more than three terms – a promise he kept – but his wife and children only made it through the first term. After two years, they moved back to their home in Wild Dunes, and, during the rest of his time in Congress, Hartnett rented a small apartment within walking distance of the Capitol and flew home on weekends. “It’s not a very family-oriented profession,” explained Hartnett. As promised, Hartnett limited himself to three terms in Congress, returning to South Carolina and running for lieutenant governor in 1986. He narrowly lost that race to Democrat Nick Theodore. Hartnett made one more run for office, this time for the U.S. Senate against fellow Isle of Palms resident Fritz Hollings. “That was a wonderful race. I had more fun in doing that than any other political thing I’ve ever done, even though I lost it,” recalled Hartnett. “Nobody thought I could win – and I proved that they were right – but if I had a little more help financially I could have. I lost that race by less than 1% statewide. I got more votes for the Senate in South Carolina and lost than anybody had ever gotten to that point and won. The turnout was huge.” Some might find it awkward to lose such a close election and then have to live in the same neighborhood as your opponent, but Tommy Hartnett isn’t one of those people. Hartnett and Hollings have a long history, and one election, no matter how contentious it seemed, was unlikely to cause a permanent rift. In fact, Hartnett’s first political activity was volunteering for Hollings’ unsuccessful attempt to win a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1962. Two years later, Hollings was among the first to contribute to Hartnett’s run for the Statehouse. Hollings was at Hartnett’s wedding, and Hartnett helped Hollings’ daughters get jobs as pages in the State Legislature. “We’ve stayed friendly, and that’s the way it should be with Democrats and Republicans,” said Hartnett. Anyone who’s retired from public serBonnie and Tommy Hartnett with President Richard Nixon. Aboard Air Force One: U.S. Rep. Tommy Hartnett, President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Rep. Carroll Campbell. Bonnie and Tommy Hartnett greet President George Herbert Walker Bush. Bonnie Hartnett talks with First Lady Nancy Reagan. vice after so many years is bound to have regrets about things not accomplished, and Hartnett is no different. “I was offered the assistant secretary of the Army. I turned it down and I regret that,” recalled Hartnett. “And then I was offered the chairmanship of the Federal Maritime Commission, and I turned that down. I don’t regret that as much as I do the assistant secretary of the Army. I think I would have loved doing that. The other thing I regret after coming home is when Harvard called me and wanted me to come to the John F. Kennedy School of Government and be a lecturer for one semester. It didn’t pay much, and I was just getting set up in business again so I turned that down.” While there may be a few regrets from his time in Washington, Hartnett has no regrets about where he’s ended up: “I think I’d stay on the island if I could go anywhere. I’d probably live on the Front Beach with a view of the ocean, but if I could make a choice of anywhere I could live, it would probably still be here.”
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