George Buist was the fourth descendant of an outstanding family of the Charleston Bar. He graduated from Yale University in 1910 and attended the Law Schools of Yale, the University of Virginia and Harvard University. He was admitted to the South Carolina Bar in 1911. He married Edna Wood Bedell. After practicing law in New York for one year, he joined the firm of Buist and Buist in 1914. In 1961, the firm became Buist, Buist, Smythe and Smythe. He served as a Captain in the United States Army during World War I.
He was an able and careful lawyer, as much at home in the courtroom as in his office. Always active in the Bar Association matters, local, state or national, he was a member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association, a member of the American Law Institute, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Throughout his long and active life, he faithfully and cheerfully performed his duties as lawyer, soldier and citizen.