Strom Thurmond

James Strom Thurmond
United States Senator from South Carolina
In office November 7, 1956 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Thomas A. Wofford
Succeeded by	Lindsey Graham
In office December 24, 1954 – April 4, 1956
Preceded by	Charles E. Daniel
Succeeded by	Thomas A. Wofford
103rd Governor of South Carolina
In office January 21, 1947 – January 16, 1951
Lieutenant	George Bell Timmerman, Jr.
Preceded by	Ransome Judson Williams
Succeeded by	James F. Byrnes
99th, 102nd, & 104th President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	Warren G. Magnuson
Succeeded by	John C. Stennis
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Robert Byrd
Succeeded by	Robert Byrd
In office January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2001
Preceded by	Robert Byrd
Succeeded by	Robert Byrd
1st President pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate
In office June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	(N/A - post created)
Succeeded by	Robert Byrd
Personal details
Born	December 5, 1902(1902-12-05) Edgefield, South Carolina
Died	June 26, 2003 (aged 100) Edgefield, South Carolina
Political party	States Rights Democratic (1948-1954) Democratic (1954-1964) Republican (1964-2003)
Spouse(s)	Jean Crouch (1947-1960) (deceased) Nancy Janice Moore (1968-2003) (separated 1991-2003)
Children	5
Profession	lawyer, politician
Religion	Southern Baptist
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army United States Army Reserves
Years of service	1942 - 1963
Rank	Major General
Battles/wars	World War II *Normandy Campaign
Awards	Legion of Merit (2) Bronze Star with valor Purple Heart World War II Victory Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal Order of the Crown Croix de Guerre

James Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 - June 26, 2003) was an American politician. He was the oldest serving member of the United States Senate to date. He was also Governor of his home state South Carolina and a Presidential candidate. He was a lawyer.

Thurmond spent more than 70 year of his life on public career. Before World War II he served as state senator and judge. During war he served in the US Army in Europe and briefly in Asia. In 1960 he was promoted to the rank of major general.

Early life

Thurmond was born on December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina. He studied at Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina. Thurmond graduated in 1923. He was married to Jean Crouch from 1947 until they divorced in 1960. Then he was married to Nancy Moore from 1968 until his death in 2003. He had five children.

Career

From 1947 to 1951 he served as Governor of South Carolina (as a Democrat). During 1948 U.S. Presidential Election he became the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party faction called "Dixiecrat" (States Rights Democrat, mostly from the South) - people who supported racial segregation and opposed civil rights laws. Thurmond and his Vice Presidential candidate, Mississippi Governor Fielding Lewis Wright finished the race in 's3rd (behind Harry Truman and Thomas E. Dewey) with 39 electoral votes and they carried 4 states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and, of course, Thurmond's home state).

He was elected, as first write-in candidate for major national office, to the Senate in 1954. He was reelected for his first full term in 1956 and served until January 2003. He was originally a Democrat, but in 1964 he openly supported Barry Goldwater's presidential bid and became a Republican.

Later career

As the longest serving Republican he was President pro tempore of the United States Senate for three occasions (1981-1987, 1995-2001, and January 2001-June 2001), when Republican gained a majority. After Democrats took over the control of the Senate in June 2001 Thurmond became first honorary "president pro tempore emeritus".

Longevity

Thurmond at his 100th birthday celebration, December 2002

Thurmond turned 100 years old on December 5, 2002, while still in office, the oldest person ever to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Started his career as opponent of racial integration, in his later years Thurmond supported desegregation.

His longtime Senate rival, Robert Byrd of West Virginia surpassed Thurmond's record of length of senatorial service in 2006. Byrd died in 2010.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams

After Thurmond's death in 2003, an attorney for his family confirmed that in 1925, when he was 22, Thurmond fathered a mixed-race daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, with his family's housekeeper, Cassie Butler, then 16 years old. Thurmond paid for the girl's college education and provided other support.

Death

Thurmond died in his sleep on June 26, 2003, at 9:45p.m. of heart failure at a hospital in Edgefield, South Carolina. He was 100 years old. Then-Senator Joe Biden delivered a eulogy, and later to the family burial plot in Willowbrook Cemetery in Edgefield, where he was buried.

Other websites

• Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University
• U.S. Senate historical page on Strom Thurmond
• SCIway Biography of Strom Thurmond
• NGA Biography of Strom Thurmond
• Oral History Interview with Strom Thurmond from Oral Histories of the American South
• Strom Thurmond Foundation, Inc.
• Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Citizens Medal – January 18, 1989
• Booknotes interview with Nadine Cohodas on Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change, April 4, 1993.
• Complete transcript and audio and video of Sen. Joe Biden's Eulogy for Strom Thurmond

Articles

• Strom Thurmond's family confirms paternity claim, By David Mattingly, CNN.com, December 15, 2003
• The Scarred Stone: The Strom Thurmond Monument by Joseph Crespino, Emory University, April 29, 2010

Obituaries

• Tribute to Strom Thurmond from The State — June 26, 2003
• Strom Thurmond dead at 100 at the Internet Archive, CNN, June 26, 2003
• Strom Thurmond Dead at 100, By James Di Liberto Jr., Fox News, June 26, 2003
• Strom Thurmond at Find A Grave