Strom Thurmond

**James Strom Thurmond Sr.** (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician. He was the oldest serving member of the United States Senate to date and the only senator to reach 100 while in office. He was also Governor of his home state South Carolina and a Presidential candidate. He was a lawyer.

Thurmond spent more than 70 years of his life in public service. 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 1959 he was promoted to the rank of major general.

## Early life

Thurmond was born on December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina. His family used to own slaves, including ancestors of Al Sharpton. 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 3rd (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).

In 1957, he filibustered (delayed) the 1957 civil rights act for 24 hours. Despite the long hours, he failed and the bill passed.

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 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. Washington-Williams died in February 2013 at the age of 87.

## Death

Thurmond died in his sleep on June 26, 2003, at 9:45 p.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
- , CNN, June 26, 2003
- Strom Thurmond Dead at 100, By James Di Liberto Jr., Fox News, June 26, 2003

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Strom Thurmond
- **image**: Strom Thurmond.jpg
- **imagesize**: 220px
- **order**: United States Senator
from South Carolina
- **term start**: November 7, 1956
- **term end**: January 3, 2003
- **predecessor**: Thomas A. Wofford
- **successor**: Lindsey Graham
- **term start2**: December 24, 1954
- **term end2**: April 4, 1956
- **predecessor2**: Charles E. Daniel
- **successor2**: Thomas A. Wofford
- **order3**: 103rd Governor of South Carolina
- **term start3**: January 21, 1947
- **term end3**: January 16, 1951
- **lieutenant3**: George Bell Timmerman, Jr.
- **predecessor3**: Ransome Judson Williams
- **successor3**: James F. Byrnes
- **order4**: 99th, 102nd, & 104th President pro tempore of the United States Senate
- **term start4**: January 3, 1981
- **term end4**: January 3, 1987
- **predecessor4**: Warren G. Magnuson
- **successor4**: John C. Stennis
- **term start5**: January 3, 1995
- **term end5**: January 3, 2001
- **predecessor5**: Robert Byrd
- **successor5**: Robert Byrd
- **term start6**: January 20, 2001
- **term end6**: June 6, 2001
- **predecessor6**: Robert Byrd
- **successor6**: Robert Byrd
- **order8**: 1st President pro tempore of the United States Senate#President pro tempore emeritus, President pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate
- **term start8**: June 6, 2001
- **term end8**: January 3, 2003
- **predecessor8**: _(N/A - post created)_
- **successor8**: Robert Byrd
- **birth name**: James Strom Thurmond Sr.
- **birth place**: Edgefield, South Carolina
- **death place**: Edgefield, South Carolina
- **party**: Dixiecrat (1948-1954)
 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic (1954-1964)
Republican Party (United States), Republican (1964-2003)
- **spouse**: Jean Crouch (1947-1960) (deceased)
Nancy Janice Moore (1968-2003) (separated 1991-2003)
- **children**: 5
- **profession**: lawyer, politician
- **signature**: Strom Thumond Signature.svg
- **allegiance**: United States, United States of America
- **branch**: United States Army
United States Army Reserves
- **rank**:  Major General (United States), Major General
- **battles**: World War II
*Invasion of Normandy, Normandy Campaign
- **serviceyears**: 1942 - 1963
- **awards**: Legion of Merit (2)
Bronze Star Medal, Bronze Star with Valor device, valor
Purple Heart
World War II Victory Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
Order of the Crown (Belgium), Order of the Crown
Croix de Guerre