Charles Ezra Daniel was born November 11, 1895, in Elberton, Georgia, the son of James Fleming and Leila Mildred Adams Daniel. He won a scholarship to The Citadel, attended for two years, and then joined the Army as a second lieutenant. He served during World War I, and at war's end returned to Anderson, South Carolina to work.

He joined Townsend Lumber Company—where he had worked during vacations as a student—for $18 a week and worked his way up to partnership status. During his years with Townsend, Daniel's responsibilities increased to include the preparation of estimates of building contracts. In 1924, he obtained a contract from a textile company for the construction of 175 houses in a mill village in Anderson. Later, he negotiated a contract for the construction of 350 homes and a schoolhouse in Rome, Georgia, for the American Chatillon Corporation, a forerunner of Celanese Corporation.

Daniel married Homozel "Mickey" Mickel on November 25, 1924. She would become an officer in her husband's company as the corporate secretary and as an active member of the board of directors.

Daniel left Townsend in 1935 to establish his own company, Daniel International, which became one of the largest construction companies in the world. At the beginning of World War II, Daniel won the contract for the building construction at Donaldson Air Force Base in Greenville, SC. The completion schedule was 90 days, and despite adverse weather conditions Daniel met his deadline.

After the war, Daniel was concerned with the lack of work for his employees, so he developed and implemented a strategy he hoped would bring in potential industrial customers. These businesses in New England and in the Midwest were companies that no other Southern entrepreneur had ever targeted for work in the South. As more and more industries moved into the Sun Belt due in part to Daniel’s work, business leaders began referring to him as the "Industrial Ambassador of the South." Charles Daniel started Daniel Construction Company in 1935. He acted as president and chairman of the board and oversaw the rapid growth of the company as it advanced to become one of the largest construction companies in the world. The Charles Daniel Papers document his activities as a business executive, a community leader, and a crusader for southern industry.

During this time, he developed personal and business relationships with many of the world's major architectural and engineering firms.

Daniel served as a director of many national corporations, among them the Chemical Bank of New York Trust Company, Eastern Airlines, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Graniteville Company, Prudential Insurance Company, Southern Bell Telephone Company, and J. P. Stevens & Company. In 1954, he was appointed by Governor James F. Byrnes to fill the unexpired term of the late Burnet R. Maybank, United States senator from South Carolina. He served as a trustee of Clemson College, as a member of the Committee for Economic Development, and as a trustee of the Foundation for Independent Colleges. He received honorary doctoral degrees from Furman University, Clemson College, The Citadel, and Lander College.

Daniel died September 13, 1964.