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Biography
Charles Ezra Daniel (November 11, 1895 – September 13, 1964) was a United States Senator from South Carolina and founder of Daniel International Corporation. Born in Elberton, Georgia, he moved with his family to Anderson, South Carolina in 1898. He attended the public schools, was a student at The Citadel (Charleston) from 1916 to 1918 and during the First World War served as a lieutenant in the infantry from 1917 to 1919. He was a businessman with interests in construction, banking, building supplies, telecommunications, insurance, and airlines, and was a life trustee of Clemson College and a member of the board of South Carolina Foundation of Independent Colleges.
He and R. Hugh Daniel co-founded Daniel International Construction Corporation, which, at one time, was the largest construction company in the world. The corporation was based in Greenville, South Carolina.
Daniel was appointed, on September 6, 1954, as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Burnet R. Maybank, and served from September 6, 1954, until his resignation December 23, 1954; he was not a candidate for election to fill the vacancy. He resumed management of his business interests and in 1964 died in Greenville; interment was in Springwood Cemetery.