Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2017

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feature
The longtime mayor of Charleston
predicted that the Mount Pleasant of 10 to
20 years from now probably won’t look a
whole lot different than it does in 2017 – or
than it did in December of 1975, if you don’t
mind more people, more businesses and more
traffic.
“Mount Pleasant will be charming,
beautiful and livable,” Riley said.
He added that as mayor of the largest
city in the Lowcountry for four decades,
he had a responsibility to all the towns and
municipalities in the Charleston area.
“People may work in a different
community, pray in a different community, go
to the doctor’s office, hospitals and restaurants
in a different community and see friends and family in a
different community,” he explained. “What’s important to
Mount Pleasant is important to the entire region.”
Riley, who turned 74 early this year, retired from his
position as mayor of Charleston in January 2016 but
certainly didn’t retire from life. As the first occupant
of the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Endowed Chair of American
Government and Public Policy at The Citadel, he taught
a class that delved into his time as mayor of Charleston. A
1964 graduate of The Citadel, he said he’s looking forward
to teaching again during the coming year.
After four decades as mayor of Charleston, Riley is
right back where he started, practicing law in the same
office on Broad Street where he launched his professional
career in 1967, shortly after graduating from the
University of South Carolina School of Law.
Photo by Jess Wood Photography.
Joe Riley is back
where he started
– practicing law
on Broad Street
in downtown
Charleston.
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