Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond, Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Carolina from 1947 to 1951. Thurmond was a member of the Democratic Party until 1964 when he joined the Republican Party for the remainder of his legislative career. He also ran for president in 1948 as the Dixiecrat candidate, receiving over a million votes and winning four states.
"Senator Thurmond" redirects here. For the South Carolina state senate member (his son), see Paul Thurmond.
Strom Thurmond
Thomas A. Wofford
Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Position established
Robert Byrd
Thomas Greneker
William Yonce
June 26, 2003 (aged 100)
Edgefield, South Carolina, U.S.
Edgefield Village Cemetery
- Democratic (until 1964)
- Republican (from 1964)
Dixiecrat (1948)
-
Jean Crouch(m. 1947; died 1960)
-
Nancy Moore(m. 1968; sep. 1991)
1942–1964[1]
A staunch opponent of civil rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s, Thurmond conducted the longest speaking filibuster ever by a lone senator, at 24 hours and 18 minutes in length, in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[2] In the 1960s, he voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite his support for racial segregation, Thurmond denied the accusation that he was a racist by insisting he was a supporter of states' rights and an opponent of excessive federal authority.[3] Thurmond switched parties ahead of the 1964 United States presidential election, saying that the Democratic Party no longer represented people like him, and endorsed Republican nominee Barry Goldwater, who also opposed the Civil Rights Act.[4][5] By the 1970s, Thurmond started to moderate his stance on race, but continued to defend his prior support for segregation based on states' rights and Southern society at the time.[6]
Thurmond served three times as President pro tempore of the United States Senate, and chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1981 to 1987 and the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1995 to 1999. He retired in 2003 as the only member of either chamber of Congress to reach the age of 100 while still in office and the oldest-serving senator. His 48 years as a senator, a record at the time, is the fourth-longest in U.S. history behind Robert Byrd, Daniel Inouye, and Patrick Leahy.[7] At 14 years, Thurmond was also the longest-serving Dean of the United States Senate in political history.
Early life and education (1902–1933)[edit]
James Strom Thurmond was born on December 5, 1902, in Edgefield, South Carolina. He was the second of six children born to John William Thurmond (1862–1934) and Eleanor Gertrude Strom (1870–1958).[8][9] Thurmond's father was a lawyer and politician, who served as a county supervisor and representative to the South Carolina General Assembly.[10] In 1902, Thurmond's father unsuccessfully contested the election for United States Congress.[11][9] Strom's mother came from a well-known Edgefield family.[10] She was a deeply religious woman, known for delivering prayers.[12] Thurmond learned to ride ponies, horses, and bulls from an early age.[13] When Thurmond was four, his family moved into a larger home, where they owned about six acres of land.[14] His parents were frequently visited by politicians and lawyers.[13] At six years old, he had an encounter with Benjamin Tillman, a senator from South Carolina.[15] Thurmond remembered the handshake with Tillman as his first political skill.[16]
Thurmond attended Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina (now Clemson University), where he studied horticulture.[17][18] At Clemson, he served as the president of the Calhoun Literary Society, where he debated and learned parliamentary procedure.[19] He was deeply influenced by his English professor—David Wistar Daniel, namesake of D. W. Daniel High School.[19] Thurmond graduated from Clemson in 1923 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
After his graduation, Thurmond worked as a farmer, teacher, and athletic coach.[20]
In 1925, Thurmond fathered a child born to Carrie Butler, an African-American teenager who worked as his family's housekeeper. In 2003, the Thurmond family confirmed that Thurmond fathered a mixed-race daughter named Essie Mae Williams with Butler. While her paternity was long hidden, he helped support her and paid for her college education.[21][22]
In 1929, Thurmond was appointed as Edgefield County's superintendent of education.[23][24] While serving as superintendent of education, he began studying to become a lawyer by reading law under his father's guidance.[23]
Death[edit]
Thurmond died of heart failure in his sleep at 9:45 p.m. on June 26, 2003, at a hospital in his hometown of Edgefield, South Carolina. He was 100 years old. After lying in state in the rotunda of the South Carolina State House in Columbia, his body was carried on a caisson to the First Baptist Church for services, at which then-Senator Joe Biden of Delaware delivered a eulogy,[315] and later to the family burial plot in Willowbrook Cemetery in Edgefield, where he was interred.[316][317]