[1][2] Born in Darlington, South Carolina, Gardner attended Wofford College and served in the United States Air Force during World War II, from 1943 to 1945, before receiving an LL.B.
[3]Because a state statute "prohibited a legislator from holding a position created by the Legislature in which he sat", the state Supreme Court had to determine that "Gardner, one of the five judges-elect, was eligible to serve because he was not a legislator at the time of his election".
[3] As further explained: In 1983, the Legislature amended the 1979 Act to create a six-judge Court of Appeals.
Unless the Court received voter sanction as a constitutional tribunal before that date, it would self-destruct.
[3] One of Gardner's law clerks was Trey Gowdy, who would later become a member of the United States House of Representatives.