Lader was president of Sea Pines Company, a developer/operator of large-scale recreation communities including Hilton Head Island and Kiawah Island. Upon sale of that company in 1983, he was president of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, which was awarded the National Gold Medal for "general improvement in programs" by the Council for Advancement & Support of Education during his tenure, and served until becoming a candidate in the 1986 gubernatorial election in South Carolina, finishing second to then-Lieutenant Governor Michael R. Daniel and foregoing the run-off in support of Daniel, who narrowly lost to Republican Carroll A. Campbell Jr. in the general election.