Once a quiet, withdrawn teen, Alvin Greene emerges from obscurity to take on powerful senator

Once a withdrawn teen, man now takes on senator

MANNING, S.C. — Alvin Greene was a quiet, withdrawn high school student who rarely took chances or put himself in uncomfortable situations. Now, the 32-year-old unemployed military veteran is running against one of South Carolina’s most powerful senators.

Little information has emerged about Greene, who came from obscurity to win the Democratic nomination.

He is remembered as painfully shy by those who knew him in high school, where Greene was the only black person on the tennis team. His mother died of cancer when he was a boy, and a brother died of cystic fibrosis. The few people who know him say the man with a political science degree from the University of South Carolina is smarter than his national image suggests.

Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.