Barton Swaim is a native South Carolinian born in 1972. He attended the University of South Carolina and earned a doctorate in English literature from the University of Edinburgh. From 2007 to 2010, he worked as a communications officer and speechwriter for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, an experience detailed in his memoir 'The Speechwriter: A Short Education in Politics' (2015). Swaim resides in Columbia, South Carolina, with his wife, Laura. He serves as an editorial-page writer, books editor, and regular book critic for The Wall Street Journal, where he has contributed since at least 2012, and as a columnist for The Washington Post. His writing often explores language, politics, and culture, including columns critiquing liberalism.