However, Jimmy left school at age fourteen and found work as a messenger and later law clerk for a law office for the next seven years to help support the family. The circuit court in Aiken, South Carolina, hired Jimmy Byrnes at the age of twenty-one as a court stenographer (reporter). Judge James Aldrich and others in the court took personal interest in Byrnes and guided him through law studies. In only three years, in 1903, Byrnes successfully passed the South Carolina bar exam and began a private law practice in Aiken while remaining a court reporter.
In 1906 Byrnes married Maude Perkins Busch of Aiken. They would have no children. Byrnes quickly jumped into politics. He won his first public office in 1908 as a public prosecutor. Just two years later, in 1910, he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democratic candidate in a very close race.
Congressman Byrnes
Byrnes served as a U.S. congressman for the next fourteen years. He struck a very distinctive presence in the Washington power circles. He was short, thin, very energetic, and had sharp eyes. Though living modestly, he dressed well.
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