Manning's political career started during the era of Ben Tillman, and Manning served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1892 to 1896 before moving up to the South Carolina Senate from 1898 to 1906. When he was elected to the governorship in 1914, Manning brought many Progressive Era reforms to a state that had spent four years under the demagogic leadership of Coleman Livingston Blease. During his first term in office, South Carolina prohibited alcohol, established the state's first compulsory education law, and raised the minimum age for employment to 14. South Carolinians expressed their approval of these measures by re-electing Manning to a second term in 1916.