Political, legal, military, and state senate career
Wilson was born in Charleston, South Carolina to Hugh de Veaux Wilson and Wray Graves Wilson.
He was active in South Carolina Republican politics from a young age, participating in his first Republican campaign in 1962. As a teenager he joined the campaign of Congressman Floyd Spence, later working as an aide to Senator Strom Thurmond.
Wilson obtained bachelor's degree from Washington and Lee University in 1969, obtained a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1972, worked as a real estate attorney, and co-founded the law firm Kirkland, Wilson, Moore, Taylor & Thomas in West Columbia, where he practiced for over 25 years. Wilson was also a Judge in Springdale.
From 1972 to 1975, Wilson served in the United States Army Reserve, and then as a Staff Judge Advocate in the South Carolina Army National Guard assigned to the 218th Mechanized Infantry Brigade until retiring from military service as a Colonel in 2003.
In 1981 and 1982, during the Reagan Administration, Wilson served as Deputy General Counsel for former Governor Jim Edwards at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Wilson was elected to the South Carolina Senate in 1984 as a Republican from Lexington County, and never missed a statutory session in 17 years.[citation needed] After the Republicans gained control of the chamber in 1996, he became the first Republican to serve as Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Wilson was a member of the Columbia College Board of Visitors and Coker College Board of Trustees.
U.S. House of Representatives
After Congressman Spence died in 2001, Wilson ran for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He won the December 18 special election with 73 % of the vote. He was sworn in the next day.
Wilson has continued Spence's pattern of conservative voting and strong support for the military. Unlike Spence however, he has attracted attention for controversial remarks. In September 2002, during a debate on the possibility of going to war in Iraq, Wilson called Congressman Bob Filner "viscerally anti-American" and claimed that he had a "hatred of America" after Filner suggested the United States supplied chemical and biological weapons to Saddam Hussein. Wilson said later that he didn't intend to insult Filner.
Wilson won election to a full term in 2002 with 84 % of the vote.
Wilson was mentioned as a possible candidate for retiring Senator Fritz Hollings' seat in 2009 but he decided to run for a second full term and beat his opponents, Democrat Michael Ray Ellisor and Constitution Party nominee Steve Lefemine, with 65 % of the vote
In the 2006 elections, he defeated Ellisor again, gaining 62.7 % of the vote, and kept his House seat.
In the 2008 general election, he faced his stiffest competition to date: Rob Miller won 46 % of the vote to Wilson's 54 %, the closest race in the district in 20 years.
Bills
Wilson has sponsored dozens and cosponsored hundreds of bills,[citation needed] issuing press releases regarding seven of them, concerning teacher recruitment and retention, college campus fire safety,National Guard troop levels, arming airline pilots, tax credits for adoption and living organ donors, and state defense forces, most of which are still in committee. As of January 2006, eight bills cosponsored by Wilson have been signed by the president, including H.R.1973, the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005, making safe water and sanitation an objective of U.S. assistance to developing countries.[citation needed]
Wilson is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act
Presidential address
During the September 9, 2009 speech to a joint session of Congress by President Obama, Wilson pointed and shouted, "You lie," as the President said there was no coverage for illegal immigrants in his healthcare plan. Wilson left the House chamber immediately after the end of the speech.
After the session, appearing on Larry King Live, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) said, "Totally disrespectful. No place for it in that setting or any other and he should apologize immediately.
Later that night, Wilson attempted to call President Obama to apologize personally but instead ended up speaking to Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel. Wilson then issued an official statement saying, "This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.
Committee assignments
* Committee on Armed Services
o Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces
o Subcommittee on Military Personnel
* Committee on Education and Labor
o Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
o Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
* Committee on Foreign Affairs
o Subcommittee on Europe
o Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
Party leadership
House Republican Policy Committee.
Family
Joe and his wife Roxanne Dusenbury McCrory Wilson have four sons and four grandchildren. His oldest son Alan McCrory Wilson is also a lawyer, working as an Assistant Attorney General for South Carolina[18], and a Major in the Army National Guard, having served a year as an intelligence officer in southern Iraq. He is currently running for the Republican nomination for the South Carolina State Attorney General in 2010. Addison G. "Add" Wilson, Jr. is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and is now an Lieutenant and graduate of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences medical school. Julian Dusenbury Wilson is a graduate of Clemson University and is a Captain in the Army National Guard. Hunter Taylor Wilson currently attends Clemson University, where he is a member of the Army ROTC, Army National Guard and the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
Joe's second oldest son Addison has two sons, Addison and Houston. In October 2007, Add and his wife Lauren had Emily Ruth Wilson. Joe's oldest son Alan and his wife Jennifer had their first son Michael McCrory Wilson on April 11, 2008. Joe's third son Julian was recently married to Joy Kimberly Strickland of Nichols.
Joe's father Hugh was a member of the Flying Tigers in World War II. The Wilson family attend First Presbyterian Church in Columbia.
