Swart was born on 5 December 1894 on the Morgenzon farm, in the Winburg district, part of the Boer republic of the Orange Free State (which became a British colony in 1902 and a province of the Union of South Africa in 1910).

He practised law in Bloemfontein from 1919–1948, with the exception of the time spent earning a degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York in 1921–22.

[11] In a referendum the following year, a small majority of White voters endorsed a government proposal to become a republic.

[12] Nelson Mandela and other underground Black resistance leaders tried to protest against the change to the new system by planning a three-day general strike of non-White workers, but the government preemptively averted most of these plans through an extensive use of police force to persecute the dissenters.

[13] Although elected for a seven-year term in office, Swart served as state president for only six years, and retired in 1967.

After his retirement, Swart was awarded the Decoration for Meritorious Services by State President Jim Fouché.

[17] A statue of CR Swart at the University of the Free State was destroyed by protesting students in late-February 2016.