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{{Short description|American politician (1902–2003)}}{{Redirect|Senator Thurmond|the South Carolina state senate member (his son)|Paul Thurmond}}{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}

factoids

| birth_place = Edgefield, South Carolina, U.S.20032612|5}}| death_place = Edgefield, South Carolina, U.S.Democratic Party (United States) (until 1964)>Republican (from 1964)}}| otherparty = Dixiecrat (1948){{marriage1947end=d}}Nancy Moore1991sep.}}}}}}Essie Mae Washington-Williams>Essie, James Strom Thurmond Jr., and Paul Thurmond>PaulClemson University (Bachelor of Science>BS)| signature = Strom Thumond Signature.svg| allegiance = | branch = United States ArmyMajor general (United States)>Major general| unit = United States Army Reserve| battles = {{tree list}}

• World War II
  • Normandy Campaign

{{tree list/end}}URL=HTTPS://BOOKS.GOOGLE.COM/BOOKS?ID=JA96V7I_4HAC&PG=PA19478 PAGE=19478, GGKEY:U014S5SKZWX, Legion of Merit (2)Bronze Star Medal>Bronze Star (with "V" device)>Purple HeartWorld War II Victory Medal>European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign MedalOrder of the Crown (Belgium)>Croix de Guerre (France)}}pos=centerfilename=Sen. Strom Thurmond on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Processing of the Rehnquist and Scalia Nominations.oggtype=speech|description=Thurmond discusses the nominations of William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia at an executive session of the Senate Judiciary CommitteeRecorded August 15, 1986}}| footnotes = | resting_place = Edgefield Village Cemetery}}{{Strom Thurmond series}}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.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.In contrast to so-called "silent" filibusters, see WEB, Fisk, Catherine, Chemerinsky, Erwin, 1997, The Filibuster,weblink August 8, 2021, Duke Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, 181–254, 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.NEWS, Clymer, Adam, June 27, 2003, Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100, The New York Times,weblink May 27, 2020, 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.NEWS, September 16, 1964, Thurmond to Bolt Democrats Today; South Carolinian Will Join G.O.P. and Aid Goldwater, 12, The New York Times,weblink subscription, December 27, 2010, Both senators have opposed the Administration on such matters as civil rights..., JOURNAL, The Party of Civil Rights,weblink May 21, 2010, Steve, Benen, Washington Monthly, June 18, 2012, April 12, 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160412041734weblink">weblink dead, 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.NEWS, Noah, Timothy, December 16, 2002, The Legend of Strom's Remorse: a Washington Lie is Laid to Rest, Slate (magazine), Slate,weblink February 28, 2012, 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, and died nearly six months later. 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.NEWS, June 11, 2006, Robert Byrd to Become Longest-Serving Senator in History, Fox News, Associated Press,weblink dead, December 24, 2006,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20061019173441weblink">weblink October 19, 2006, At 14 years, Thurmond was also the longest-serving Dean of the United States Senate in political history.{{TOC limit|limit=3}}

Early life and education (1902–1933)

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).{{Sfn|Crespino|2012|p=15}}WEB, John William Thurmond Series Description and Container List,weblink August 8, 2021, Clemson University, Thurmond's father was a lawyer and politician, who served as a county supervisor and representative to the South Carolina General Assembly.{{Sfn|Lachicotte|1966|p=22}} In 1902, Thurmond's father unsuccessfully contested the election for United States Congress.{{Sfn|Bass|Thompson|2005|p=19}} Strom's mother came from a well-known Edgefield family.{{Sfn|Lachicotte|1966|p=22}} She was a deeply religious woman, known for delivering prayers.{{Sfn|Bass|Thompson|1998|p=31}} Thurmond learned to ride ponies, horses, and bulls from an early age.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=27}} When Thurmond was four, his family moved into a larger home, where they owned about six acres of land.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=26}} His parents were frequently visited by politicians and lawyers.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=27}} At six years old, he had an encounter with Benjamin Tillman, a senator from South Carolina.{{Sfn|Crespino|2012|p=20}} Thurmond remembered the handshake with Tillman as his first political skill.{{Sfn|Bass|Thompson|2005|p=xii}}Thurmond attended Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina (now Clemson University), where he studied horticulture.NEWS, September 20, 1969, The Maverick From South Carolina; James Strom Thurmond, The New York Times,weblink limited, March 24, 2020, {{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=32}} At Clemson, he served as the president of the Calhoun Literary Society, where he debated and learned parliamentary procedure.{{Sfn|Bass|Thompson|2005|p=29}} He was deeply influenced by his English professor{{Emdash}}David Wistar Daniel, namesake of D. W. Daniel High School.{{Sfn|Bass|Thompson|2005|p=29}} Thurmond graduated from Clemson in 1923 with a Bachelor of Science degree.After his graduation, Thurmond worked as a farmer, teacher, and athletic coach.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=33}}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.NEWS, Koch, Wendy, January 27, 2005, Strom Thurmond's biracial daughter sheds life of secrecy, USA Today,weblink November 1, 2020, September 29, 2020,weblink dead, NEWS, Mattingly, David, December 17, 2003, Strom Thurmond's family confirms paternity claim, CNN,weblink live, November 4, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100920012136weblink">weblink September 20, 2010, In 1929, Thurmond was appointed as Edgefield County{{'s}} superintendent of education.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=39}}{{Sfn|Bass|Thompson|2005|p=37}} While serving as superintendent of education, he began studying to become a lawyer by reading law under his father's guidance.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=39}}

Early career (1933–1947)

South Carolina Senate (1933–1938)

(File:Hon. J. Strom Thurmond, 1939.jpg|upright=1|thumb|left|Thurmond as S.C. Circuit Judge, 1939)In 1930, Thurmond was admitted to the South Carolina bar. He was appointed as the Edgefield Town and County attorney, serving from 1930 to 1938. Thurmond supported Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election. Thurmond favored Roosevelt's argument that the federal government could be used to assist citizens in the daily plights brought on by the Great Depression. Thurmond raised money for Roosevelt and, following his victory, traveled to Washington to attend Roosevelt's inauguration.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=38}}In 1933, Thurmond began his own political career by being elected to the South Carolina Senate. He served there until 1938, when he was elected as a state circuit judge. During his days as a circuit judge, after Sue Logue participated in planning the murder of Davis Timmerman, Thurmond convinced her to surrender to authorities.WEB, 2003, The Judge,weblink dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080206045914weblink">weblink 2008-02-06, 2023-03-18, WYFF4,

World War II

In 1942, at age 39, after the U.S. formally entered World War II, Judge Thurmond resigned from the bench to serve in the U.S. Army, rising to lieutenant colonel. In the Battle of Normandy (June 6 â€“ August 25, 1944), he landed in a glider attached to the 82nd Airborne Division. For his military service, Thurmond received 18 decorations, medals and awards, including the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star with Valor device, Purple Heart, World War II Victory Medal, European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Belgium's Order of the Crown and France's Croix de Guerre.BOOK,weblink Official Congressional Directory, U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001, 9780160509827, 107th Congress, Washington, DC, 236, en-US, During 1954–55, Thurmond was president of the Reserve Officers Association.{{Sfn|Crespino|2012|p=97}} He retired from the U.S. Army Reserve with the rank of major general.WEB, Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 131 (Tuesday, October 8, 2002),weblink 2023-02-07, www.govinfo.gov,

Governor of South Carolina (1947–1951)

(File: Strom Thurmond 1948.jpg|thumb|left|Thurmond as Governor of South Carolina (1947))Running as a Democrat in what was virtually a one-party state, since most African Americans (who then favored the Republican Party) were still disenfranchised by state discriminatory laws and practices, Thurmond was elected Governor of South Carolina in 1946. He had promised to make state government more transparent and accountable by weakening the power of a group of politicians from Barnwell,NEWS,weblink Reforms Won Thurmond His Governorship, July 18, 1948, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, whom Thurmond dubbed the Barnwell Ring, led by House Speaker Solomon Blatt.Many voters considered Thurmond a progressive for much of his term, in large part due to his influence in gaining the arrest of the perpetrators of the lynching of Willie Earle. Though none of the men was found guilty by an all-white jury, in a case where the defense called no witnesses,NEWS, Moredock, Will, The Good Fight, the Last Lynching,weblink February 26, 2018, The Charleston City Paper, February 26, 2007, February 27, 2018,weblink dead, Thurmond was congratulated by the NAACP and the ACLU for his efforts to bring the murderers to justice.NEWS, The legend of Willie Earle,weblink March 27, 2012, UpstateToday.com Archives, June 23, 2007, November 3, 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131103031652weblink">weblink dead, In 1949, Thurmond oversaw the opening of Camp Croft State Park.NEWS, McCullough, Alex, June 1, 1949, State Accepts Camp Croft In Park System,weblink Spartanburg Herald-Journal, The Spartanburg Herald, Spartanburg, S.C., In November he was unanimously elected Chairman of the Southern Governors Conference and was considered to be a states' rights nominee.NEWS,weblink Thurmond Heads South's Governors; Choice of 1948 States' Rights Nominee Held Political Move of National Bearing, November 23, 1949, The New York Times,

1948 presidential campaign

File:StromT.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of Thurmond outside the South Carolina State CapitolSouth Carolina State CapitolIn the 1948 presidential election, Thurmond ran for president as a third party candidate for the States' Rights Democratic Party, which was formed by White southern Democrats who split from the national party over the threat of federal intervention in state affairs regarding racial segregation and Jim Crow laws and practices.Thurmond's supporters took control of the Democratic Party in the Deep South. Incumbent President Harry S. Truman was not included on the presidential ballot in Alabama because that state's Supreme Court ruled void any requirement for party electors to vote for the national nominee.Key, V.O. Jr.; Southern Politics in State and Nation; p. 340 {{ISBN|087049435X}} Thurmond stated that Truman, Thomas Dewey and Henry A. Wallace would lead the U.S. to totalitarianism.NEWS,weblink Thurmond Hits Truman, Dewey, Wallace As Leading U.S. to 'Rocks of Totalitarianism', August 12, 1948, The New York Times, Thurmond called civil rights initiatives dangerous to the American constitution and making the country susceptible to communism in the event of their enactment,NEWS,weblink Thurmond Says Foes Yield to 'the Pinks, October 14, 1948, The New York Times, challenging Truman to a debate on the issue.NEWS,weblink Truman Challenged to Thurmond Debate, The New York Times, October 6, 1948, Thurmond carried four states and received 39 electoral votes, but was unable to stop Truman's re-election.During the campaign, Thurmond said the following in a speech met with loud cheers by his assembled supporters: {{audio|Strom Thurmond 1948 Speech Clip.ogg|listen}}{{blockquote|I wanna tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the (wikt:nigra#Noun|Nigra) race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.{{efn|Standard accounts of the speech render "Nigra" as "Negro" or "nigger".}}}}

1950 U.S. Senate campaign in South Carolina

According to time limits in the state constitution, Thurmond was barred from seeking a second consecutive term as governor in 1950, so he mounted a Democratic primary challenge against first-term U.S. senator Olin Johnston.NEWS, February 13, 1950, Thurmond Not Candidate?, Herald-Journal,weblink On May 1, Thurmond's Senate campaign headquarters opened in Columbia, South Carolina with Ernest Craig serving as campaign leader and George McNabb in charge of public relations; both men were on leave from their state positions in the governor's office.NEWS, May 2, 1950, Thurmond Opens Campaign Center, Herald-Journal,weblink In the one-party state of the time, the Democratic primary was the only competitive contest. Both candidates denounced President Truman during the campaign. Johnston defeated Thurmond 186,180 votes to 158,904 votes (54% to 46%) in what would be Thurmond's first and only state electoral defeat.In 1952, Thurmond endorsed Republican Dwight Eisenhower for the presidency, rather than the Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson still narrowly carried South Carolina, traditionally Democratic, in the general election.

United States Senator

1950s and early 1960s

The incumbent U.S. senator from South Carolina, Burnet R. Maybank, was unopposed for re-election in 1954, but he died two months before election day. The state Democratic Party selected Edgar A. Brown to replace Maybank without conducting a primary election.Thurmond organized a write-in campaign for the vacant Senate seat. He pledged that if he won, he would resign in 1956 to force a primary election. He easily won the 1954 election. He was the first person to be elected to the U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate.{{Efn|It has only been repeated once, in 2010, by Lisa Murkowski}} In January 1955, Thurmond expressed his view that federal encroachment on states' rights was among the biggest threats to American life and violated the Constitution.NEWS, January 9, 1955, Solon Says States' Rights Great, The Times (Shreveport), The Times, Monroe Morning World,weblink August 9, 2021, Newspapers.com, In July, Thurmond supported the Republican Eisenhower Administration{{'s}} bill for an expanded military reserve law over the alternate plan proposed by fellow Democratic Senator Richard Russell.NEWS, July 11, 1955, Sen. Thurmond Backs Fight For Military Reserve Law, The Tuscaloosa News,weblink August 9, 2021, Thurmond co-wrote the first version of the Southern Manifesto, stating disagreement with the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, that declared that segregated public schools were unconstitutional and ordered them integrated.JOURNAL, Crespino, Joseph, April 29, 2010, The Scarred Stone: The Strom Thurmond Monument,weblink Southern Spaces, 10.18737/M7P315, August 9, 2021, free, August 9, 2021,weblink dead, He was part of the group of Southern senators who opposed the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.BOOK, Woods, Randall Bennett,weblink LBJ: Architect of American Ambition, Free Press, 2006, 978-0684834580, New York (state), New York, 303, 2006041259, 7721570M, August 9, 2021, registration, In early 1956, Thurmond resigned from the Senate, keeping the promise he had made two years earlier.NEWS, March 4, 1956, Thurmond Resigns His Senate Seat to Keep Promise He Made, Springfield News-Leader, The Springfield News-Leader,weblink August 9, 2021, Newspapers.com, He won the primary as well as the general election unopposed. Thereafter, he returned to the Senate in November 1956.In 1957, the Eisenhower administration introduced an amended version of the Civil Rights Bill, imposing expansion of federal supervision of integration in Southern states.BOOK, Newton, Jim,weblink Eisenhower: The White House Years, Doubleday, 2011, 978-0385523530, 242, 2011010759, 25045949M, August 9, 2021, registration, In an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the bill{{'s}} passage,NEWS, August 31, 1957, Thurmond's Filibuster Angers Dixie Senators, The Herald Journal,weblink August 9, 2021, Thurmond filibustered the bill, speaking for a total of 24 hours and 18 minutes, the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single senator.NEWS, Memmott, Mark, March 7, 2013, How Did Strom Thurmond Last Through His 24-Hour Filibuster?, NPR,weblink August 9, 2021, Other Southern senators, who had agreed as part of a compromise not to filibuster this bill, were upset with Thurmond because they thought his defiance made them look incompetent to their constituents.Caro, Robert (2002). (Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson), New York: Knopf. {{ISBN|0-394-52836-0}}{{Page needed|date=August 2021}} Despite his efforts, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 on August 29.NEWS,weblink Congress passes Civil Rights Act Aug. 29, 1957, August 29, 2007, Politico, During his filibuster, Thurmond relied on the book The Case for the South, written by W. D. Workman Jr.; Thurmond had known the author for fifteen years. Workman had covered both Thurmond's tenure as South Carolina governor and his presidential campaign, in addition to having served in the military unit which Thurmond had organized in Columbia. He had turned down an offer by Thurmond to serve as his Washington, DC office press secretary.Thurmond sent a copy of The Case for the South to each of his Senate colleagues and then-vice president Richard Nixon. The book was described in 2013 by Loyola history professor and author Elizabeth Shermer as "a compendium of segregationist arguments that hit all the high points of regional apologia".BOOK, Shermer, Elizabeth Tandy, Barry Goldwater and the Remaking of the American Political Landscape, University of Arizona Press, 2013, 978-0816521098, 152–153, 2012029636, 25404808M, In January 1959, the Senate held a debate over changing the rules to curb filibusters. Thurmond expressed the view that the Senate should return to the rule prior to 1917, when there were no regulations on the time for debate.NEWS,weblink Liberals Claim South Won Filibuster Battle, January 13, 1959, Gadsden Times, In February 1960, Thurmond requested a quorum call that would produce at least half the membership of the Senate, the call being seen as one of the delay tactics employed by Southerners during the meeting. 51 senators assembled, allowing the Senate to adjourn in spite of Thurmond's calls for another quorum call. Thurmond afterward denied his responsibility in convening the Saturday session, attributing it to Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson. He said that those insistent on passing a civil rights bill should be around during discussions on the matter.NEWS, February 28, 1960, Senator Russell Ties Rights Bakers To Race Riots, Toledo Blade,weblink August 13, 2021, In the 1960 United States presidential election, Thurmond refused to back the Democratic nominee, his senate colleague John F. Kennedy, due to the latter's support for civil rights. In the 1960 South Carolina Senate race, Thurmond ran unopposed in the general election; no Republican candidate was on the ballot. As of 2022, 1960 remains the last time a Democrat won South Carolina's Class 2 Senate seat.{{Sfn|Bass|Thompson|1998|p=189}} In the presidential election, Thurmond received 14 electoral votes for vice president (as Harry Byrd Sr.'s running mate). Though both Byrd and Thurmond had long since moved on from the States Rights' Democratic Party, they were the decided protest ticket of several Southern delegates and unpledged electors, who refused to give their support to Kennedy.JOURNAL, Middleton, Russell, 1962, The Civil Rights Issue And Presidential Voting Among Southern Negroes And Whites, Social Forces, Oxford University Press, 40, 3, 209–215, 10.2307/2573630, 2573630, Thurmond predicted the 87th Congress would begin with a move to remove him from the Senate Democratic Caucus.NEWS, January 3, 1961, Thurmond Invites Fight To Oust Him, The New York Times,weblink limited, August 13, 2021, This did not happen, and an aide for Senator Joseph S. Clark Jr. said there was never an intention to pursue recourse against Thurmond, though in his opinion Thurmond should no longer be a member of the party.NEWS, January 4, 1961, Thurmond Not Purge Target, The Item,weblink August 13, 2021, In August 1961, Thurmond formally requested the Senate Armed Services Committee to vote on whether to vote for "a conspiracy to muzzle military anti-Communist drives." The appearance prompted the cancellation of another public appearance in Fort Jackson, as Thurmond favored marking his proposal with his presence, and his request for a $75,000 committee study was slated for consideration.NEWS, August 31, 1961, Military Gag Probe Asked, Daily Herald (Utah), Daily Herald,weblink August 18, 2021, Newspapers.com, In November, Thurmond said that President Kennedy had lost support in the South due to the formation of the National Relations Boards, what he called Kennedy's softness on communism, and an increase in military men being muzzled for speaking out against communism.NEWS, November 28, 1961, Thurmond Defends Military Leaders, Madera Tribune,weblink August 13, 2021, In May 1962, Thurmond was part of a group of Senate orators headed by John C. Stennis who expressed opposition to the Kennedy administration's literacy test bill, arguing that the measure was in violation of states' rights as defined by the Constitution. The bill was an effort to reduce the use of discriminatory and subjective literacy tests in the South; ostensibly used to establish voters' competency, in practice they were used against African-American voters and preventing their registration.NEWS, May 1, 1962, Justice Dept. Move Sparks New Debate, Times-News (Hendersonville, North Carolina), Times-News,weblink August 13, 2021, After the Supreme Court ruled state composed prayer in public schools was unconstitutional, Thurmond urged Congress to take steps to prevent the Court from making similar decisions.NEWS, July 26, 1962, Thurmond Blasts Court's Decision, Madera Tribune,weblink August 13, 2021, In September 1962, Thurmond called for an invasion of Cuba.NEWS, Marlow, James, September 5, 1962, Cuba, Soviet Warned, Springfield News-Leader,weblink August 13, 2021, Newspapers.com, In February 1963, Thurmond stated that "the brush curtain around Cuba is a formidable Soviet strategic military base" and estimated between 30,000 and 40,000 Cuban troops were under the leadership of a Soviet general. Hours after the statement was made public, a Pentagon official disputed his claims as being "at wide variance with carefully evaluated data collected by U.S. intelligence" and called for Thurmond to release his proof to the Defense Department.NEWS, February 2, 1963, Soviet Has Around 40,000 Military Personnel In Cuba, Sarasota Herald-Tribune,weblink During Paul Nitze's nomination hearing for Secretary of the Navy, Thurmond was noted for asking "rapid fire questions" on military action and focusing on Nitze's participation as a moderator in the 1958 National Council of Churches conference.NEWS, November 7, 1963, Thurmond Fires Queries Senate Group Grills Nitze, Navy Secretary Nominee, The San Bernardino Sun,weblink August 13, 2021, Along with Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, Thurmond delayed the Nitze nomination.NEWS, Raymond, Jack, November 16, 1963, Senators Delay Approving Nitze Questions Are Raised About Parley and Land Sale Asked About Views, The New York Times,weblink August 13, 2021, In spite of Thurmond voting against him, the nomination was approved.NEWS, November 22, 1963, Senate Group Backs Nitze As Navy Head, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,weblink August 13, 2021, Newspapers.com, The day after the Nitze vote, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.WEB, November 22, 1963 Death of the President,weblink August 23, 2021, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Thurmond expressed the view that a conspiracy would be found by investigators to have been responsible for JFK's death.NEWS, February 14, 1967, Thurmond Says a Red Plot Led to Death of Kennedy, The New York Times,weblink August 23, 2021, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson ascended to the presidency.NEWS, November 23, 2021, Johnson Takes Over Presidency; Nation, World Mourn Kennedy, Carroll Daily Times Herald,weblink August 23, 2021, Newspapers.com, He began campaigning to secure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which angered white segregationists. These laws ended segregation and committed the federal government to enforce voting rights of citizens by the supervision of elections in states in which the pattern of voting showed black people had been disenfranchised. During the signing ceremony for the Civil Rights Act, President Johnson nominated LeRoy Collins as the first Director of the Community Relations Service.WEB, Johnson, Lyndon B., Lyndon B. Johnson, July 2, 1964, 446 – Radio and Television Remarks Upon Signing the Civil Rights Bill,weblink August 23, 2021, The American Presidency Project, First, I will send to the Senate my nomination of LeRoy Collins to be Director of the Community Relations Service. Governor Collins will bring the experience of a long career of distinguished public service to the task of helping communities solve problems of human relations through reason and commonsense., Subsequently, Thurmond reminded Collins of his past support for segregation and implied that he was a traitor to the South, Thurmond having particular disdain for an address by Collins the previous winter in which he charged Southern leaders with being harsh and intemperate.BOOK, Cohodas, Nadine, Strom Thurmond & the Politics of Southern Change, Mercer University Press, 1995, 978-0865544468, 353, Thurmond also suggested that Collins had sought to fault southern leaders for President Kennedy's assassination.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=353}} Thurmond was the only senator to vote against Collins' nomination being sent to the Senate, and later one of eight senators to vote against his nomination in the chamber.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=355}}

Party switch and late 1960s

On September 16, 1964, Thurmond confirmed he was leaving the Democratic Party to work on the presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater, charging the Democrats with having "abandoned the people" and having repudiated the U.S. Constitution.NEWS, September 17, 1964, Thurmond Break Is Made Official He Will Work as Republican for Goldwater Election, The New York Times,weblink subscription, August 23, 2021, During the campaign, Thurmond told reporters that he believed Barry Goldwater could carry South Carolina and other southern states.NEWS, September 18, 1964, Thurmond Joins Goldwater Drive, The New York Times,weblink subscription, August 23, 2021, Though Goldwater lost in a landslide, he won South Carolina with 59% of the vote compared to President Johnson's 41%.NEWS, Sabato, Larry J., October 27, 2014, How Goldwater Changed Campaigns Forever, Politico, Politico (magazine),weblink August 23, 2021, Senate Republicans were lukewarm to Thurmond due to their "super minority" of only 32 seats in the Senate prior to Thurmond's switch,WEB,weblink United States Senator: 1914–2014, Vermont State Archives and Records Administration,weblink March 4, 2016, February 10, 2021, and voted for committee assignments granting Thurmond the ability "to keep at least some of the seniority power he had gained as a Democrat."NEWS,weblink G.O.P. Senators Approve Assignments to Thurmond, January 16, 1965, The New York Times, Following the election, Johnson continued to push through Civil Rights legislation, most notably the Voting Rights Act in 1965, which committed the federal government to enforce voting rights of citizens by the supervision of elections in states with noted record of voter suppression and disenfranchisement.One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work in the public domain: "Introduction to Federal Voting Rights Laws: The Effect of the Voting Rights Act". www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_c.php. U.S. Department of Justice. June 19, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2021. Thurmond explained his opposition to the Voting Rights Act as being opposed to its authorization of the federal government to determine the processes behind how statewide elections are conducted and insisted he was not against black voter turnout.Cohodas, p. 13. During floor debate on the bill, Thurmond espoused that the VRA would lead to "despotism and tyranny."May, Gary (April 9, 2013). Bending Toward Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy (Kindle ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-01846-8}}. With the Voting Rights Act passing into law by a slightly larger margin than the Civil Rights Act, Thurmond's opposition to civil rights had proven as ineffective as a Republican as it had been as a Democrat."Senate Vote #78 in 1965: To Pass S. 1564, the Voting Rights Act of 1965". govtrack.us. Civic Impulse, LLC. www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s78. Retrieved February 10, 2021.In 1965, L. Mendel Rivers became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, commentator Wayne King crediting Thurmond's involvement with Rivers as giving Rivers' district "an even dozen military installations that are said to account for one‐third to one‐half of the jobs in the area."NEWS,weblink Federal Funds Pour Into Sunbelt States, February 9, 1976, The New York Times, In his 1966 re-election campaign, the new Republican senator faced no opposition in the primary,NEWS, June 12, 1966, Major Democrats Go To Line In Primaries, The Santa Fe New Mexican, and competed against Bradley Morrah Jr. in the general election campaign.NEWS, February 19, 1992, P. Bradley Morrah Jr., Orlando Sentinel,weblink Morrah avoided direct charges against Thurmond's record and generally spoke of his own ambitions in the event he was elected,NEWS, May 7, 1966, Democratic Hopefuls Seek U.S. Senate Votes, The Greenville News, later referring to Thurmond's time in the Senate as being ineffective.NEWS, November 8, 1966, S. C. Voters Face Extra-Long Ballot In Today's Election, Aiken Standard and Review, Thurmond won election with 62.2 percent of the vote (271,297 votes) to Morrah's 37.8 percent (164,955 votes). In 1966, former governor Ernest "Fritz" Hollings won South Carolina's other Senate seat in a special election. He and Thurmond served together for just over 36 years, making them the longest-serving Senate duo in American history.WEB,weblink Former Sen. 'Fritz' Hollings, 97, Has Died, April 6, 2019, NPR, At the start of the 89th United States Congress, Thurmond was appointed to the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Constitutional Rights.NEWS, January 18, 1967, Thurmond Replaces Javits On a Rights Subcommittee, The New York Times,weblink In March, Thurmond won unanimous approval to have Clark's remarks removed from the record following an argument the senators had after Clark mentioned that Charleston, South Carolina would be included in the Pentagon's list of twenty-five American cities that would get priority in their antimissile protection and attributed this to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rivers' influence.NEWS, March 22, 1967, Senate Endorses Defenses, Then Argues About Locale, Lawrence Journal-World,weblink In June 1967, Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to be the first African-American Justice on the Supreme Court,NEWS,weblink Supreme Court nomination that changed the nation, September 28, 2015, Wil, Haygood, January 26, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180614094350weblink">weblink June 14, 2018, dead, Thurmond joined Sam Ervin, Spessard Holland, and James Eastland in calling Marshall a "Constitutional iconoclast" in Senate debate.NEWS,weblink Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as Supreme Court Justice in 1967, August 29, 2015, The New York Daily News, Thurmond questioned Marshall for an hour "on fine points of constitutional law and history",NEWS,weblink Marshall Is Questioned on Fine Points of the Law; Thurmond Presses Nominee to Court With More Than 60 Complicated Queries, July 20, 1967, The New York Times, and accused Marshall of having evaded questions on his legal principles during committee hearings.NEWS, In Hearing Strom Raps Marshall For Ducking Issue, August 11, 1967, The Greenville News, Marshall was still confirmed by the Senate at the end of that month.Graham, Fred P. (August 31, 1967), "Senate Confirms Marshall As the First Negro Justice; 10 Southerners Oppose High Court Nominee in 69-to-11 Vote", New York Times. Later that year, Thurmond attributed the 1967 USS Forrestal fire to being precipitated by communists,NEWS, July 31, 1967, Thurmond Charges Red-Inspired, Panama City News-Herald, and warned against enacting any of the three proposed Panama Canal treaties on the grounds that they would lead to Communist control of the waterway if enacted.NEWS, September 3, 1967, Thurmond Warns of Peril To Panama Canal in Pacts, The New York Times,weblink In 1968, Chief Justice Earl Warren decided to retire, and Johnson subsequently nominated Abe Fortas to succeed him.NEWS,weblink GOP Cynicism on the Supreme Court Reaches a New Low, Jay, Michaelson, February 15, 2016, The Daily Beast, On the third day of hearings, Thurmond questioned Fortas over Mallory v. United States (1957), a case taking place before Fortas's tenure, but for which he was nonetheless held responsible by Thurmond.BOOK, Abe Fortas: A Biography, Laura, Kalman, 340–341, 1992, Yale University Press, 978-0300052589, Thurmond asked Fortas if the Supreme Court decision in the Mallory v. United States case was an encouragement of individuals to commit serious crimes such as rape and if he believed in "that kind of justice", an inquiry that shocked even the usually stoic Fortas. Thurmond displayed sex magazines, which he called "obscene, foul, putrid, filthy and repulsive", to validate his charges that Supreme Court rulings overturning obscenity convictions had led to a large wave of hardcore pornography material. Thurmond stated that Fortas had backed overturning 23 of the 26 lower court obscenity decisions.NEWS, Senate Committee Asks Fortas to Testify Again: Thurmond Brandishes Nude Magazines, Assails Justice for Rulings on Obscenity, July 24, 1968, Los Angeles Times, Thurmond also arranged for the screening of explicit films that Fortas had purportedly legalized to be played before reporters and his own Senate colleagues.NEWS,weblink The Republicans' Filibuster Lie, May 3, 2005, Los Angeles Times, In September, Vice President Hubert Humphrey spoke of a deal made between Thurmond and Nixon over Thurmond's opposition to the Fortas nomination.NEWS,weblink Humphrey Scores 'the Same Nixon'; Sees a Deal With Thurmond on Fortas -- Also Chides Opponent on Atom Pact Humphrey Criticizes 'The Same Nixon', September 14, 1968, The New York Times, Both NixonNEWS,weblink Nixon Rejects Charge, September 14, 1968, The New York Times, and Thurmond denied Humphrey's claims, Thurmond saying that he had never discussed the nomination with Nixon while conceding the latter had unsuccessfully tried to sway him from opposing Fortas.NEWS,weblink Thurmond Promotes Nixon's Cause Deep in Wallace Country, September 14, 1968, The New York Times, In the lead-up to the 1968 United States Presidential election, Thurmond stated that President Johnson could be defeated in a re-election bid by a Republican challenger since the candidate was likely to be less obnoxious than the president.NEWS, Sen. Thurmond Sees Defeat Of Johnson, October 24, 1966, Aiken Standard And Review, Thurmond was an early supporter of a second presidential campaign by Nixon, his backing coming from the latter's position on the Vietnam War,Black, p. 474. Thurmond promising Nixon that he would not give in to the "depredations of the Reagan forces."BOOK, Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full, Conrad, Black, 978-1586485191, 2007, PublicAffairs, 526,weblink During the general election campaign, Nixon's running mate Spiro Agnew stated that he did not believe Thurmond was a racist when asked his opinion on the matter,NEWS,weblink Agnew's Worries Are Over, Clayton, Fritchey, Lewiston Evening Journal, September 21, 1968, and Thurmond participated in a two-day tour of Georgia during October where he warned that American Independent Party candidate George Wallace would split the vote and give the election to Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey by having the Democratic-majority House of Representatives select him in the event none of the candidates received enough electoral votes to win the presidency outright. Thurmond also predicted that Nixon would carry Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Tennessee.NEWS,weblink Thurmond Woos Wallace Voters, The Bridgepost Post, October 24, 1968, Nixon carried each of these states with the exception of Texas.WEB,weblink 1968 Presidential General Election Results – Texas, April 16, 2018, Thurmond decried the Supreme Court opinion in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education (1969), which ordered the immediate desegregation of schools in the American South.Woodward, Bob; Scott Armstrong (September 1979). The Brethren, Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|0-671-24110-9}}. Page 56. This had followed continued Southern resistance for more than a decade to desegregation following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Thurmond praised President Nixon and his "Southern Strategy" of delaying desegregation, saying Nixon "stood with the South in this case". In 1969, Thurmond opined that The New York Times "had a conflict of interest in its attacks on Otto F. Otepka's appointment to the Subversive Activities Control Board."NEWS,weblink Thurmond Scores Times on Otepka; Charges Newspaper Has a Conflict of Interest, April 25, 1969, The New York Times, and called for Associate Justice William O. Douglas to resign over what he considered political activities,NEWS,weblink Thurmond Urges Douglas to Quit; In Newsletter, He Denounces 'Political Activity', May 30, 1969, The New York Times, a request which Douglas ignored.WEB, Members of the Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court of the United States,weblink April 21, 2010, April 29, 2010,weblink dead, In the latter part of the year, President Nixon nominated Clement Haynsworth for associate justice.NEWS,weblink Nixon Submits Nomination Of Haynsworth to Senate, The New York Times, August 22, 1969, NEWS,weblink Haynsworth Gains Votes Of 2 More, November 18, 1969, The New York Times, This came after the White House consulted with Thurmond throughout all of July, as Thurmond had become impressed with Haynsworth following their close collaboration. Thurmond wrote to Haynsworth that he had worked harder on his nomination than any other that had occurred since his Senate career began.BOOK, The Origins of the Southern Strategy, 2001, Bruce H., Kalk, 94, 978-0739102428, Lexington Books, The Haynsworth nomination was rejected in the Senate.WEB,weblink 472 – Remarks on the Decision of Judge Clement F. Haynsworth Jr., To Continue as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, December 4, 1969, Richard, Nixon, Richard Nixon, Years later, at a 1977 hearing, Thurmond told Haynsworth, "It's a pity you are not on the Supreme Court today. Several senators who voted against you have told me they would vote for you if they had it to do again."NEWS,weblink Senate Views on Haynsworth Changed, March 15, 1977, The Washington Post, In 1969, Time ran a story accusing Thurmond of receiving "an extraordinarily high payment for land". Thurmond responded to the claim by calling the tale a liberal smear intended to damage his political influence,NEWS, September 16, 1969, Thurmond Scores an Article in Life; Terms Contention on Land Deal a 'Liberal Smear', The New York Times,weblink later calling the magazine "anti-South".NEWS, September 20, 1969, Thurmond Rebuts the Life Article; Says Magazine Is Trying to 'Destroy' Him Politically, The New York Times,weblink and a few days later, Thurmond named executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party Donald L. Fowler as the individual who had spread the story, a charge that Fowler denied.NEWS, September 22, 1969, Thurmond Says Fowler Aided Magazine Team; Latter Denies It, Aiken Standard,weblink

Early 1970s

In 1970, African-Americans constituted about 30 percent of South Carolina's population.Gibson, Campbell; Jung, Kay (September 2002). "Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For The United States, Regions, Divisions, and States" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224151538weblink |date=December 24, 2014 }}. U.S. Bureau of the Census â€“ Population Division. After the Voting Rights Act of 1965, African Americans were legally protected in exercising their constitutional rights to register and vote in South Carolina. Thurmond appointed Thomas Moss, an African American, to his Senate staff in 1971. It has been described as the first such appointment by a member of the South Carolina congressional delegation (it was incorrectly reported by many sources as the first senatorial appointment of an African American, but Mississippi Senator Pat Harrison had hired clerk-librarian Jesse Nichols in 1937). In 1983, Thurmond supported legislation to make the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a federal holiday. In South Carolina, the honor was diluted; until 2000 the state offered employees the option to celebrate this holiday or substitute one of three Confederate holidays instead. Despite this, Thurmond never explicitly renounced his earlier views on racial segregation.NEWS In January 1970, Thurmond asserted that he would work "to reverse the unreasonable and impractical decisions of the Supreme Court", as well as assist with the appointment of "sound judges" and uphold the Nixon administration's position for resumption of tax‐exempt status among all private schools.NEWS,weblink Southern White Leaders Voice Anger and Dismay Over Integration Ruling, Murray, Illson, The New York Times, January 16, 1970, In a 1970 speech, Thurmond called on Japan to increase defense spending and take a larger role in resisting communism in Asia. Thurmond also defended the Vietnam policy of the Nixon administration, saying that the president was making the best of the situation that he had inherited from Kennedy and Johnson while admitting he personally favored a total victory in the war.NEWS,weblink Thurmond Urges Japan to Step Up Defense Effort, September 21, 1970, The New York Times, On April 11, 1971, Thurmond called for the exoneration of William Calley following his conviction of participating in the My Lai Massacre, stating that the "victims at Mylai were casualties to the brutality of war" and Calley had acted off of order.NEWS,weblink Calley Exoneration Urged by Thurmond, April 12, 1971, The New York Times, Calley's petition for habeas corpus was granted three years later, in addition to his immediate release from house arrest.Linder, Douglas. "JURIST â€“ The My Lai Massacre Trial", JURIST â€“ The My Lai Massacre Trial. March 2000. In January 1975, Thurmond and William Scott toured South Vietnam, Thurmond receiving a medal from President of South Vietnam Nguyá»…n Văn Thiệu. The award was seen as part of an attempt by South Vietnam to court American congressional votes in its favor.NEWS,weblink A Gain in Battle Is Reported by Saigon, January 4, 1975, The New York Times, In February 1971, Senate Republicans voted unanimously to bestow Thurmond full seniority, the vote being seen as "little more than a gesture since committee assignments are the major item settled by seniority and Senator Thurmond has his."NEWS,weblink Senate Republicans Give Thurmond Full Seniority, February 10, 1971, The New York Times, In June, Thurmond advocated against lifting the trade embargo on the People's Republic of China, stating that its communist regime had engaged in a propaganda effort to weaken support for the embargo.NEWS, Strom, Nixon rift, June 14, 1971, The Delta Democrat-Times, Nevertheless, days later, President Nixon ordered an end to the embargo.NEWS,weblink U.S. Ends Ban on China Trade; Items Are Listed, Carroll, Kilpatrick, The Washington Post, NEWS,weblink President Ends 21-year Embargo on Peking Trade, Robert B. Jr., Semple, The New York Times, June 11, 1971, On February 4, 1972, Thurmond sent a secret memo to William Timmons (in his capacity as an aide to Richard Nixon) and United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell, with an attached file from the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, urging that British musician John Lennon (then living in New York City) be deported from the United States as an undesirable alien, due to Lennon's political views and activism.NEWS,weblink Deportation of Lennon Barred by Court of Appeals, October 8, 1975, The New York Times, The document claimed Lennon's influence on young people could affect Nixon's chances of re-election, and suggested that terminating Lennon's visa might be "a strategy counter-measure". Thurmond's memo and attachment, received by the White House on February 7, 1972, initiated the Nixon administration's persecution of John Lennon that threatened the former Beatle with deportation for nearly five years from 1972 to 1976. The documents were discovered in the FBI files after a Freedom of Information Act search by Professor Jon Wiener, and published in Weiner's book Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files (2000).BOOK, Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files, Wiener, Jon, 2000publisher=University of California url-access=registration, They are discussed in the documentary film, The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006).In July 1973, Thurmond was one of ten Republican senators in a group headed by Carl T. Curtis invited to the White House to reaffirm their support for President Nixon in light of recent scandals and criticism of the president within his own party.NEWS,weblink 10 AT WHITE HOUSE, R. W. Jr., Apple, The New York Times, July 12, 1973, In October, after President Nixon ordered the firing of independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox, Democrat Birch Bayh charged Thurmond with "browbeating" Cox during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the firing. Thurmond replied that Bayh was "below a snake" in the event that he had intended to impugn his motives. Thurmond was noted for joining Edward J. Gurney in questioning Cox "at length in an attempt to show that he was biased against" Nixon and his administration, as Thurmond asked Cox if eleven members of his staff had worked for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.NEWS,weblink Senate Panel's Hearings on Dismissal of Cox Fall Into Partisan Bickering, November 1, 1973, The New York Times, In May 1974, Thurmond, along with William L. Scott and James B. Allen agreed with Senator Carl T. Curtis on the equation of resignation with mob rule and the group declined defending Nixon's conduct. Thurmond opined that Nixon was "the only President we have" and questioned why Congress would want to weaken his hand in negotiating with other countries.NEWS,weblink Leading Senators Refuse to Press Nixon on Quitting, May 15, 1974, The New York Times, In August, Newsweek published a list by the White House including Thurmond as one of thirty-six senators that the administration believed would support President Nixon in the event of his impeachment and being brought to trial by the Senate.NEWS,weblink 36 SENATORS SEEN AS NIXON BACKERS, August 5, 1974, The New York Times, Nixon resigned on August 9 in light of near-certain impeachment.NEWS, The Washington Post, Nixon Resigns, The Watergate Story,weblink July 16, 2011, Throughout the 1970s, Thurmond took several actions against Soviet Union. In June 1974, Senator Henry M. Jackson informed Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee John C. Stennis that he had arranged for Thurmond to cosponsor an amendment revising the present export control system and restricting trade with the Soviet Union while granting the Defense Secretary power to veto any export that might "significantly increase the military capability" of either the Soviet Union or other Communist countries.NEWS,weblink Mansfield Stalls a Jackson Trade Plan, June 8, 1974, The New York Times, In June 1975, as the Senate weighed a reduction in a $25 billion weapons procurement measure and to delete research funds to improve the accuracy and power of intercontinental ballistic missiles and warheads, Thurmond and Harry F. Byrd Jr. warned that the Soviet Union was attempting an increase on its missile accuracy and advocated for the United States to follow suit with its own missiles.NEWS,weblink Senate Rejects $1.2–81 Won Cut in Arms Budget, June 5, 1975, The New York Times, Later that month, Thurmond and Jesse Helms wrote to President Ford requesting he meet with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ahead of a speech on June 30 during an AFL–CIO dinner. The White House responded that Ford was too busy to meet with Solzhenitsyn, while later sources indicate Ford declined the meeting at the counsel of his advisors.NEWS,weblink Kissinger Sees Perils in Solzhenitsyn's Views, July 17, 1975, The New York Times, In December 1979, Thurmond was one of ten senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee to sign a report urging President Carter to delay the vote on a proposed treaty between the US and Soviet Union to limit nuclear arms.NEWS,weblink Senate Panel Votes Antitreaty Report, December 21, 1979, The New York Times,

Late 1970s

In the 1976 Republican primary, President Ford faced a challenge from former California Governor Ronald Reagan, who selected Richard Schweiker as his running mate.NEWS,weblink Richard S. Schweiker, Former Senator and Reagan Confidant, Dies at 89, Robert D., McFadden, The New York Times, August 4, 2015, Though Thurmond backed Reagan's candidacy, he, along with North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, led efforts to oust Schweiker from the ticket.BOOK, Reagan's Revolution: The Untold Story of the Campaign That Started It All, 302, Craig, Shirley, 2005, 978-0785260493, Thomas Nelson Inc.,weblink During the subsequent general election, Thurmond appeared in a campaign commercial for incumbent U.S. President Gerald Ford in his race against Thurmond's fellow Southerner, former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. In the commercial, Thurmond said Ford (who was born in Nebraska and spent most of his life in Michigan) "sound[ed] more like a Southerner than Jimmy Carter".WEB,weblink The Living Room Candidate – Commercials – 1976 – Strom Thurmond, www.livingroomcandidate.org, After President-elect Carter nominated Theodore C. Sorensen as his choice to become Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Thurmond expressed reservationsNEWS,weblink Carter Stands Firm, Supports Sorensen As Director of C.I.A., January 17, 1977, The New York Times, and fellow Senator Jake Garn said he believed Thurmond would not vote for the nomination.NEWS,weblink Sorensen Nomination In Trouble, January 16, 1977, The Washington Post, Sorensen withdrew from consideration days later, before a vote could be had.NEWS,weblink Sorensen Withdraws As Nominee for CIA, January 18, 1977, The Washington Post, NEWS,weblink Ted Sorensen, JFK's speechwriter and confidant, dies at 82, November 1, 2010, The Guardian, In 1974,NEWS,weblink Storm Over the Canal, Richard, Hudson, The New York Times, May 16, 1976, Thurmond and Democrat John L. McClellan wrote a resolution to continue American sovereignty by the Panama Canal and zone. Thurmond stated that the rhetoric delivered by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger suggested that the "Canal Zone is already Panamanian territory and the only question involved is the transfer of jurisdiction."NEWS,weblink 32 Senators Back Resolution Opposing Panama Canal Pact, March 30, 1974, The New York Times, In the late 1970s, Thurmond advocated for forging a new relationship with Panama but against the U.S. giving up sovereignty to the Canal Zone. Thurmond doubted Panama's ability to govern alone: "There is no way that a Panarnaniain government could be objective about the administration of an enterprise so large in comparison to the rest of the national enterprise, public and private."NEWS, Keep Sovereignty, Maintains Thurmond, August 9, 1977, Florence Morning News, In late August 1977, The New York Times wrote "President Carter can be grateful that the opposition to his compromise Panama treaty is now being led by Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina."NEWS,weblink Carter, Panama And China, James, Reston, The New York Times, August 24, 1977, Speaking on the Panama Canal neutrality treaty, Thurmond said it was "the big giveaway of the century."NEWS,weblink Senate, 68-32, Approves First of 2 Panama Pacts; Carter Hails 'Courage', March 17, 1978, The New York Times, NEWS,weblink Senate Votes 1st Canal Treaty, 68-32, Haynes, Johnson, March 17, 1978, The Washington Post, The treaty was ratified by the Senate on March 16, 1978.NEWS,weblink Senate Votes 1st Canal Treaty, 68-32, The Washington Post, March 17, 1978, In his general election campaign, Thurmond faced Charles Ravenel, a local banker and former gubernatorial candidate.NEWS,weblink Former Charleston political figure Charles 'Pug' Ravenel passed away Saturday, Schuyler, Kropfc, postandcourier.com, March 26, 2017, Ravenel charged Thurmond with not standing up for South Carolina's educational needs and having been behind the lack of funding. Thurmond responded to the charges by stating that he thought the state had made advancements in its education system.NEWS,weblink Thurmond Defends Education, Herald=Journal, Thurmond and Ravenel made a joint appearance in April, where Thurmond discussed his position on a variety of issues.NEWS,weblink Thurmond's Years, April 7, 1978, Toni, Wicker, The New York Times, The higher amount of African-Americans voting in elections was taken into account by the Ravenel campaign, which sought to gain this group of voters by reviving interest in older statements by Thurmond. In his courting of black voters, Thurmond was noted to have not undergone "any ideological transformation" but instead devoted himself to making personal contact with members of the minority group. Thurmond's influence in national politics allowed him to have correspondence with staffers from the Nixon administration which gave him "a unique advantage in announcing federal grants and bird-dogging federal projects of particular interest to black voters."NEWS,weblink Thurmond's Black Hope, March 17, 1978, The Washington Post, By May 1978, Thurmond held a 30-point lead over Ravenel among double digits of undecided voters.NEWS, Polls Shows Thurmond Is Landsliding Ravenel, May 23, 1978, The Atlanta Constitution, Thurmond won a sixth term with 351,733 votes to Ravenel's 281,119. The race would later be assessed as the last serious challenge to Thurmond during his career.NEWS,weblink Campaign '96 / THE SENATE : Thurmond Thinking of an Eighth Term; Voters Aren't So Sure : Though popular, the 93-year-old Republican risks handing his seat to a Democrat if he runs again, observers say., February 14, 1996, Los Angeles Times, In March 1979, after the Carter administration made an appeal to Congress for new powers to aid with the enforcement of federal laws as it pertains to housing discrimination, Thurmond refused to back the administration as he charged it with "injecting itself in every facet of people's lives" and said housing disputes should be settled in court.NEWS,weblink Congress Is Asked for Power to Fight Housing Bias, March 22, 1979, The New York Times, In July, as the Senate weighed voting on the nomination of Assistant Attorney General Patricia M. Wald to the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, Thurmond joined Paul Laxalt and Alan Simpson in recording their opposition.NEWS,weblink Senate Panel Approves 13 Judges, July 18, 1979, The New York Times, Later that month, Thurmond asked Attorney General nominee Benjamin R. Civiletti if President Carter had made him give a pledge of loyalty or an assurance of complete independence.NEWS,weblink Civiletti Is Praised at Senate Hearing, Philip, Taubman, The New York Times, July 26, 1979, In September, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved 30 of President Carter's nominees, the closest vote being waged against Abner J. Mikva, who the president had nominated for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Thurmond was one of the five Republicans to vote against Mikva.NEWS,weblink Senate Unit Approves 30 Nominees for Judgeships, September 12, 1979, The New York Times, In November, President Carter nominated José A. Cabranes to fill a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Thurmond submitted a series of written questions to Cabranes, whose answers were credited with clarifying his views on issues.NEWS,weblink A Puerto Rican for the Federal Court, December 12, 1979, The New York Times, Cabranes was confirmed for the position.Thurmond demonstrated several instances of bipartisanship with Democrats and President Carter. In May 1977, Thurmond made a joint appearance with President Carter in the Rose Garden in a show of unified support for proposed foreign intelligence surveillance legislation. Thurmond stated he had become convinced the legislation was needed from his service on the Armed Services Committee, the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee the previous year and lauded the bill for concurrently protecting the rights of Americans, as a warrant would have to be obtained from a judge in order to fulfill any inquiries.WEB,weblink Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Remarks of the President, Attorney General Bell, and Several Members of Congress on Proposed Legislation., May 18, 1977, Jimmy, Carter, Jimmy Carter, American Presidency Project, In July 1979, after the Carter administration unveiled a proposed governing charter for the FBI, Thurmond stated his support for its enactment, his backing being seen by The New York Times as an indication that the governing charter would face little conservative opposition.NEWS,weblink Carter Administration Unveils Proposed F.B.I. Charter, Philip, Taubman, The New York Times, August 1, 1979, In September, the Senate approved Bailey Brown as Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The nomination was one of the few votes in which Thurmond and Ted Kennedy joined forces in confirming.NEWS,weblink Javits and Kennedy Clash in Vote On Judge Tied to All-White Club, Jo, Thomas, The New York Times, September 26, 1979, In October, President Carter signed the Federal Magistrate Act of 1979, an expansion of the jurisdiction of American magistrates in regards to civil and criminal cases. Carter noted Thurmond as one of the members of Congress who had shown leadership on the measure, without whose efforts it would have never passed.WEB,weblink Federal Magistrate Act of 1979 Statement on Signing S. 237 Into Law, October 10, 1979, American Presidency Project, Jimmy, Carter, Jimmy Carter,

Early 1980s

In December 1979, Thurmond endorsed the presidential campaign of former Governor of Texas John Connally.NEWS,weblink S.C. Ex-Gov. Edwards, Thurmond Back Connally, The Washington Post, December 27, 1979, NEWS,weblink Thurmond and Ex-Gov. Edwards Turn to Connally, December 28, 1979, The New York Times, In an election cycle that also featured Reagan,WEB, Intent to Run for President, November 13, 1979,weblink Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, February 2, 2009, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090124210257weblink">weblink January 24, 2009, Thurmond chose to back Connally because he believed the latter's wide government experience would benefit the U.S. in both domestic and foreign matters.NEWS, Reagan heavily favored in South Carolina, March 9, 1980, Clarion-Ledger, The Washington Post noted Thurmond seeming "to cast himself for a role of regional leadership in the Connally campaign similar to the one he played in 1968" for the Nixon campaign.NEWS,weblink Connally Criticizes President For 'Inaction Policy' on Iran, December 28, 1979, The Washington Post, After Connally lost the South Carolina primary to Reagan, he thanked Thurmond and his wife for doing more to support his campaign in the state than anyone else.NEWS,weblink Reagan Crushes Connally, Bush in S.C., March 9, 1980, The Washington Post, In August 1980, Thurmond gave a "tense cross examination" of President Carter's brother, Billy Carter, who had come under scrutiny for his relationship with Libya and receiving funds from the country. The Billy Carter controversy also was favored by Democrats wishing to replace Carter as the party's nominee in the general election.NEWS,weblink No 'Impropriety' in Billy Affair, Carter Says, No 'Impropriety' Committed In Billy Affair, President Says, August 5, 1980, The Washington Post, Thurmond questioned Carter over his prior refusal to disclose the amount of funds he had received from public appearances after the 1976 Presidential election,NEWS, Billy Claims $20,000 Not Gift From Libyans, August 22, 1980, Altoona Mirror, and stated his skepticism with some of the points made.NEWS, Billy: $20,000 was not Libyan gift, August 22, 1980, Ukiah Daily Journal, After Republicans won a majority in the 1980 Senate election,NEWS, Nicolas, Ashford, Democrats aim to regain lost ground, The Times, 10, February 10, 1984, Thurmond pledged that he would seek a death penalty law,NEWS, Thurmond returning to power as 'friend' of minority groups, November 7, 1980, Florida Today, and stated his conviction that "the death penalty is a deterrent to crime" in an interview the following year.NEWS,weblink The Four Men Strom Thurmond Sent to the Chair, David I., Bruck, The Washington Post, Following the presidential election, Thurmond and North Carolina senator Jesse Helms sponsored a Senate amendment to a Department of Justice appropriations bill denying the department the power to participate in busing, due to objections over federal involvement, but, although passed by Congress, was vetoed by a lame duck Carter.NEWS, B. Drummond Jr., Ayres, Civil Rights Groups Fear a Slowdown In Busing for Desegregation of Schools, The New York Times, December 21, 1980, 28, NEWS, Tom, Wicker, Tom Wicker, Why Not The Best?, The New York Times, November 16, 1980, E21, In December 1980, Thurmond met with President-elect Reagan and recommended former South Carolina governor James B. Edwards for United States Secretary of Energy in the incoming administration.NEWS,weblink Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., said Tuesday that former South..., December 16, 1980, UPI, Reagan later named Edwards Energy Secretary, and the latter served in that position for over a year.NEWS,weblink James B. Edwards, a Long-Shot as Governor of South Carolina, Dies at 87, Bruce, Weber, The New York Times, December 27, 2014, NEWS,weblink Former Gov. James Edwards dies, The State (newspaper), The State, December 26, 2014, December 26, 2014, Click, Carolyn, December 29, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141229011716weblink">weblink dead, In January 1981, after the Justice Department revealed it was carrying out a suit against Charleston County for school officials declining to propose a desegregation method for its public schools, Thurmond theorized the Justice Department's decision may have been due to South Carolina not supporting President Carter in the general election,NEWS,weblink U.S. TO SUE A SCHOOL DISTRICT IN CAROLINA OVER RACIAL BIAS, January 9, 1981, The New York Times, and stated his intent to have the incoming Reagan administration to look into the facts of the case before proceeding.NEWS,weblink Around the Nation; Thurmond to Ask Review On School Segregation Suit, January 11, 1981, The New York Times, File:Margaret Thatcher Strom Thurmond 1981.jpg|thumb|right|Margaret ThatcherMargaret ThatcherThurmond became President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate in 1981, and was part of the U.S. delegation to the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Thurmond being accompanied by Sadat's pen pal Sam Brown.NEWS,weblink President Reagan invited three former presidents to the White..., October 8, 1981, UPI, At the beginning of Reagan's term, Thurmond as the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the new president were seen as obstacles to any gun laws passing in the Senate. Thurmond publicly stated his belief that any measures introduced would be defeated in his committee.NEWS, Sen. Thurmond predicts gun control bill's defeat, February 1, 1981, Poughkeepsie Journal, After the March assassination attempt on President Reagan,NEWS,weblink Remembering the Assassination Attempt on Ronald Reagan, March 30, 2001, December 19, 2007, CNN, December 19, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20191219043617weblink">weblink dead, NEWS,weblink Reagan is shot, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Associated Press, March 31, 1981, April 23, 2011, Hunt, Terence, Washington DC, 1, Thurmond stated his support for legislation imposing a ban on the gun components on a seven-point anti-crime program.NEWS,weblink A Ban on Gun Parts Is Urged in Congress, April 1, 1981, The New York Times, He indicated his backing would only be in favor of passing measures to restrict criminals accessing gunsJOURNAL, Administration unlikely to drop opposition to handgun, Stevens Point Journal, April 1, 1981, and his announcement was seen as possibly indicating a change in the debate of regulations relating to firearms in the U.S.NEWS,weblink Kennedy Set to Compromise to Obtain Gun Control Bill, April 2, 1981, The New York Times, Thurmond also announced plans to hold hearings on the seven-point proposal intended to address the questions surrounding the Reagan assassination attempt.NEWS,weblink Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., said Tuesday..., April 1, 1981, UPI, Thurmond and Helms urged President Reagan to curb textile imports, with Thurmond saying later that year that the first four months of 1981 had seen a 16 percent increase in textile imports "over a similar period in 1980."NEWS,weblink Republican Sens. Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Strom..., June 4, 1981, UPI, President Reagan pledged in a letter to Thurmond to help South Carolina textile mills against their foreign competitors.NEWS,weblink Reagan is the Real King Of Special Interest Groups, April 1, 1984, The Washington Post, President Reagan stated his support for tightening control of textile imports,NEWS,weblink Reagan Decides to Tighten Controls on Textile Imports, December 17, 1983, The New York Times, and the following year, vetoed H.R. 1562.WEB,weblink Message to the House of Representatives Returning Without Approval the Textile and Apparel Industries Bill, December 17, 1985, Ronald, Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, April 9, 2018,weblink April 10, 2018, dead, Thurmond responded to the decision by stating that Reagan had heeded bad advice and added that the veto would produce "more layoffs, more plant shutdowns and more long-term economic damage to an industry that is crucial to this nation."NEWS,weblink President Reagan, in a blow to the import-battered textile,..., December 18, 1985, UPI, In late 1981, Thurmond presided over the hearings of Sandra Day O'Connor, who President Reagan had nominated for associate justice.WEB, U.S. National Archives, Reagan's Nomination of O'Connor,weblink August 19, 2014, WEB,weblink News, Photos, Audio | Archives - UPI.com, UPI, Thurmond granted Alabama Senator Jeremiah Denton an hour of questioning of O'Connor, twice the time allotted for other members of the chamber.NEWS,weblink Abortion Foes Assail Judge O'connor, September 12, 1981, The New York Times, Thurmond stated that O'Connor was "one of the choice nominees" for the Supreme Court that he had seen in all of his Senate career,NEWS,weblink Panel Approves Judge O'Connor, September 16, 1981, The New York Times, and she was confirmed by the Senate.WEB, Reagan's Nomination of O'Connor,weblink archives.gov, November 7, 2015, Also in 1981, Thurmond was one of the leaders in opposition to extending the Voting Rights Act,NEWS,weblink Congress Begins Fight Over Extension of Voting Rights Act, April 8, 1981, The New York Times, and said parts of the law were discriminatory toward states' rights as well as too strict toward communities that had adhered to it in the past.NEWS,weblink Once Again, a Clash Over Voting Rights, September 27, 1981, The New York Times, Thurmond was a supporter of the foreign policy of the Reagan administration. In April 1981, Thurmond stated that the U.S. could move some of its West Germany soldiers to the East German and Czechoslovak borders in an attempt to improve both morale and combat readiness.NEWS,weblink U.S. May Shift G.I.'s in Germany, April 19, 1981, The New York Times, In October 1983, Thurmond announced his support for the United States invasion of Grenada, saying American efforts with other countries were "providing an opportunity for Grenadan citizens to regain control over their lives" and the U.S. would be forced to watch centuries of progress crumble if the country was unwilling to make sacrifices.NEWS,weblink Required Reading; Sampling of Opinions on Invasion of Grenada, October 29, 1983, The New York Times, Thurmond voted against the Senate resolution declaring that American troops in Grenada would be "withdrawn no more than 60 days later unless Congress authorized their continued presence there".NEWS,weblink O'Neill Criticizes President; War Powers Act Is Invoked, October 29, 1983, The New York Times, President Reagan sent Thurmond a letter containing a report in line with the War Powers Resolution.NEWS,weblink Reagan gives Congress war powers notice, Ira A., Allen, UPI, October 25, 1983, Thurmond said the "ruling junta in Grenada" was directly threatening American lives.NEWS,weblink Congress gave cautious support to the invasion of Grenada..., John F., Barton, UPI, October 25, 1983, In December 1984, as the United States and Israel moved to negotiate a free-trade pact where tariffs between the two countries would eventually be wiped out following the Reagan administration receiving congressional approval to negotiate such an agreement, Thurmond wrote a letter to United States trade representative Bill Brock calling on Brock to "reformulate" the negotiating position of the US as the senator had been informed by his aides that the American position in the negotiation was "more generous" than the one specified to Congress. Brock replied to Thurmond weeks later, asserting that he had "every intention" of fulfilling his commitment to Congress "to take account of the import sensitivity of specific products" in the agreement and that Israel had acknowledged the irregularity of export subsidy programs "with the concept of a free-trade area."NEWS,weblink Israel and U.S. Facing Hurdles on Trade Pact, January 10, 1985, The New York Times, In 1984, as the Senate voted on a bill granting federal prosecution to weapon-carrying career robbers and giving 15 years of incarceration to those convicted, Thurmond and Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy sponsored an amendment limiting the bill to third-time federal offenders, which passed 77 to 12.NEWS,weblink Bill to Permit Federal Prosecution of Career Criminals Passes Senate, February 24, 1984, The New York Times, In the 1984 presidential election, Thurmond was cited along with Carroll Campbell and South Carolina Republican Party Director Warren Tompkins by Republicans as the forces binding the Reagan-Bush ticket to South Carolina's electoral votes.NEWS, Both sides in presidential battle agree turnout is key, October 28, 1984, The Index-Journal, Thurmond attended President Reagan's October 15 re-election campaign speech in the Allied Health Building on the Greenville Technical College campus in Greenville, South Carolina.WEB,weblink Remarks at a Reagan-Bush Rally in Greenville, South Carolina, October 15, 1984, Ronald, Reagan, Ronald Reagan, And Dr. Thomas Barton, a Clemson Tiger; Mayor Bill Workman, and Senator Strom Thurmond., Running for a fifth full term in 1984,NEWS,weblink Campaign Notes; Thurmond Will Seek6th Full Term in Senate, March 20, 1984, The New York Times, Thurmond faced his first primary challenge in 20 years, from retired CIA agent Robert Cunningham, and won the Republican nomination on June 12, 1984.NEWS,weblink Thurmond Gains Bid for 6th Term, June 13, 1984, The New York Times, NEWS,weblink Strom Thurmond wins nomination as five states hold primaries, June 13, 1984, UPI, The previous year, at a fundraising dinner for Thurmond's re-election campaign in Columbia, South Carolina, President Reagan delivered an address both praising Thurmond and noting the similarities in his views and that of the administration.WEB,weblink Remarks at a Fundraising Dinner for Senator Strom Thurmond in Columbia, South Carolina, September 20, 1983, American Presidency Project, NEWS,weblink President Reagan praised Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., Tuesday as..., September 20, 1983, UPI, Cunningham charged Thurmond with being a follower who no one could validate the seriousness of as a candidate since he had not been challenged in eighteen years, furthering that the South Carolina Republican Party had been involved with the decline in his opposition. Cunningham said that Thurmond had a "bad track record" and noted his past comments on race, saying that he would not be crushed like Thurmond's past opponents and was getting much encouragement in his bid to unseat him.NEWS,weblink Ex-CIA agent battles Thurmond, Sidney, Bedingfield, UPI, April 17, 1984, Thurmond addressed the issue of age during the primary, the 81-year-old senator stating that he exercised each day for an hour and a half and that he was in the same shape as a person in their 30s or 40s.NEWS,weblink Strom Thurmond wins nomination to sixth Senate term, June 12, 1984, UPI, Cunningham received less than 6% of the primary vote. Thurmond then defeated Melvin Purvis III in the general election, the latter receiving half of the votes cast for Thurmond.NEWS,weblink Melvin Purvis Iii, Minister, Candidate, October 21, 1986, Sun Sentinel, March 29, 2018, March 29, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180329121142weblink">weblink dead, Purvis, noted to have few differences in ideology with Thurmond, cited the latter's age as reason to retire him from the Senate.NEWS,weblink Melvin H. Purvis 3d, October 21, 1986, The New York Times,

Late 1980s

Thurmond's support of Reagan's judicial nominees continued into the president's second term. In 1986, Daniel Anthony Manion, President Reagan's choice for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago, answered a question by Thurmond,NEWS,weblink Nominee Questioned On Creationist Bill, March 13, 1986, Glen, Elsasser, Chicago Tribune, who cited Manion as "entitled to have a vote by the Senate",NEWS,weblink Senate GOP Leaders Attempting to Limit Debate on Manion, June 25, 1986, The Washington Post, and predicted there were enough votes to confirm him.NEWS,weblink Judge Nominee's Verdict Near, June 24, 1986, Chicago Tribune, In 1987, after President Reagan nominated Robert Bork as Associate Justice on the Supreme Court,WEB,weblink Nomination of Robert H. Bork To Be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, July 1, 1987, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, December 6, 2018,weblink April 4, 2018, dead, the Los Angeles Times noted Thurmond as "one of Bork's key supporters on the Judiciary Committee."NEWS,weblink Packwood Opposes Bork, 1st Gop Senator to Defect : Willing to Join Senate Filibuster, September 21, 1987, Los Angeles Times, Following Bork's nomination being rejected by the Senate,NEWS,weblink Senate's Roll-Call On the Bork Vote, October 24, 1987, The New York Times, Associated Press, Thurmond stated that President Reagan's next nominee should be a person not "as controversial" and should be someone from the South.NEWS,weblink Bork's Nomination Is Rejected, 58-42; Reagan 'Saddened', October 24, 1987, The New York Times, In June 1985, Thurmond introduced legislation providing stiffer federal penalties for individuals and financial institutions engaged in laundering money earned from activities of illegality. The bill was supported by the Reagan administration in its efforts to expose the financial activities of criminals and was hailed by Thurmond as "an important step in our continuing war on organized crime and those financial institutions and individuals which hide the ill-gotten assets of law-breakers, especially drug traffickers."NEWS,weblink Money-laundering Bill Seen As Privacy Threat, June 23, 1985, The New York Times, In September 1985, Thurmond was one of eight members of a delegation that met with General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.NEWS,weblink Gorbachev Hints He'll Be Flexible, September 4, 1985, The New York Times, In March 1986, after American warplanes took action against Libyan land, Thurmond stated the U.S. "has the right and the duty to protect and defend itself when attacked, as it was today, without provocation." He opposed statements by the Libyan government that the attacks on U.S. ships occurred in international waters and named Muammar Gaddafi as the individual who had orchestrated the acts of aggression toward the U.S.NEWS,weblink Lawmakers Back Actions on Libya, March 25, 1986, The New York Times, Thurmond was a supporter of the Nicaragua rebels, saying that support for the group on the part of the United States was central to furthering America's view "in freedom and in protecting ourselves against Soviet totalitarianism."NEWS,weblink Senate Votes, 52-48 Not to Block Aid to Contras, March 19, 1987, The New York Times, In August 1988, Senator Robert Byrd presented the White House with a modified version of the Democratic proposal on Contra aid. Thurmond responded to the plan by calling it unsatisfactory.NEWS,weblink Republicans Object to New Contra Deal, August 9, 1988, The New York Times, A month later, after some members of the Senate gave support to a law that would impose American participation in an international treaty outlawing genocide, Thurmond stated his intent to add a death penalty amendment in the event the bill reached the Senate floor and Democrats charged Thurmond with using parliamentary devices and Senate traditions to prevent a vote.NEWS,weblink Bill Banning Genocide Still Snagged in Senate, September 27, 1988, The New York Times, Thurmond dropped the death penalty amendment when Democrats agreed to proceed with the confirmation of Republican judges.NEWS,weblink Senate Votes to Carry Out Treaty Banning Genocide, October 15, 1988, The New York Times, In September 1986, Thurmond sponsored a drug law package that included a provision imposing the death penalty for some drug offenses and federal crimes of "treason, espionage and killing American hostages in a terrorist attack".NEWS,weblink Senate G.O.P. Adds Its Own Drug Bill, September 20, 1986, The New York Times, A week later, as the Senate opened debate on proposals aimed at ending both the supply of dangerous drugs as well as their demand, Thurmond offered changes to criminal law in the form of amendments that would include imposing the death penalty for drug traffickers guilty of murder and an expansion of the proposal that would add the death penalty for other federal crimes, such as espionage and hostage taking.NEWS,weblink Senate Takes up Drug Bill With Session Waning, September 27, 1986, The New York Times, President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 on October 27, 1986, noting Thurmond as one of the "real champions in the battle to get this legislation through Congress".WEB,weblink Remarks on Signing the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, October 27, 1986, American Presidency Project, Ronald, Reagan, Ronald Reagan, April 10, 2018, April 10, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180410201728weblink">weblink dead, File:President Ronald Reagan Meeting with Senator Strom Thurmond in The Oval Office.jpg|thumb|left|President Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganIn November 1987, Thurmond introduced legislation that if enacted would require "alcoholic beverages to carry health warning labels similar to those on cigarettes", saying the legislation would be effective if it prevented anyone from drinking while being in a compromising position of health.NEWS,weblink Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., continued his attack on alcohol..., Karen Lee, Scrivo, UPI, The following year, Thurmond sponsored legislation designed to impose "five rotating warning labels on alcoholic beverages cautioning pregnant women not to drink, warning that alcohol is addictive and can increase the risks of hypertension, liver disease and cancer, that it impairs a person's ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and that alcohol consumption can be hazardous in combination with some drugs."NEWS,weblink Health warning on liquor bottles urged, Mary Beth, Franklin, August 10, 1988, UPI, On February 23, 1988, Thurmond endorsed fellow senator Bob Dole in the Republican presidential primary, acknowledging his previous intent to remain neutral during the nominating process.NEWS,weblink Dole Endorsed by Thurmond, February 23, 1988, The New York Times, The Thurmond endorsement served to change the Dole campaign's initial plans of skipping the South Carolina primary, where Vice President Bush defeated Dole. The Bush campaign subsequently won other Southern states and the nomination, leading Michael Oreskes to reflect that Dole "was hurt by an endorsement that led him astray."NEWS,weblink The Nation; Dukakis and Bush; Why the Candidates Love to be Endorsed, March 27, 1988, The New York Times,weblink May 25, 2015, live, Following the 1988 Presidential election, George H. W. Bush nominated John Tower for United States Secretary of Defense. After Tower's nomination was rejected by the Senate, Thurmond asked, "What does it say when the leader of the free world can't get a Cabinet member confirmed?"NEWS,weblink An Attempt To Recover; Bush Seeks to End Rancor Over Tower, March 11, 1989, The New York Times,weblink May 25, 2015, live, In July 1989, when the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill by Democrat Dennis DeConcini that imposed a ban of three years on sales of several domestic assault weapons, it rejected an amendment by Thurmond that would have substituted the DeConcini bill with the Bush administration's anti-crime package, which did not include a ban on rifles produced in the United States. Failure to implement the Thurmond amendment was seen as "a preliminary test of Senate support for extending President Bush's ban on foreign-made assault weapons to domestic makes" and a loss for the National Rifle Association of America which had previously protested banning domestic assault weapons.NEWS,weblink Senate Panel OKs U.S.-Made Assault Rifle Ban, July 21, 1989, Los Angeles Times,weblink August 7, 2020, live, In August, after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted evenly on the nomination of William C. Lucas for Assist Attorney General for Civil Rights and thereby terminated the nomination that required a majority to proceed to the entirety of the chamber, Thurmond noted the different forms of segregation in the North and South and added that "black people didn't have the chance in either place that they should have had. Now's the chance to give them a chance." Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Joe Biden refuted Thurmond's argument by mentioning that Senate critics of Lucas were civil rights supporters who had a problem with his lack of qualifications.NEWS,weblink Senate Committee Bars Bush's Choice From Rights Post, August 2, 1989, The New York Times,weblink May 25, 2015, live, In September, Thurmond was one of nine Republican senators appointed by Senate Republican leader Robert Dole to negotiate a dispute with Democrats over financing of President Bush's anti-drug plan.NEWS,weblink Senate drug funding dispute threatens money bills, Steve, Gerstel, September 14, 1989, UPI,weblink November 25, 2018, live,

1990s and 2000s

(File:Strom Thurmond.jpg|thumb|Official Senate portrait of Thurmond, 1997)Thurmond launched his campaign for an eighth term on February 12, 1990, citing that he had never before felt "a stronger obligation to continue my work for the future of our state and our nation."NEWS,weblink Thurmond announces bid for seventh term, February 12, 1990, UPI, Thurmond, then age 87, billed himself as having the health of a man in his fifties. The South Carolina Democratic Party faced difficulty recruiting a candidate which they believed had a chance of defeating Thurmond.NEWS,weblink Fiddle-fit Thurmond going after another term, UPI, In the general election, Thurmond defeated retired intelligence officer Bob Cunningham, who had been his Republican primary opponent in 1984. (Cunningham had switched parties in 1990.)NEWS,weblink The 1990 Elections: State By State; South, November 7, 1990, The New York Times, In early 1990, Thurmond sponsored a crime bill concurrent with another measure of the same intent, his version receiving the support of President Bush.NEWS,weblink Senate Backs Curb on Assault Rifles by a Vote of 50-49, May 24, 1990, The New York Times, Thurmond charged the Democratic proposal with aiding criminals and furthering the loss of rights on the part of victims.NEWS,weblink Senate Begins Debate on Anti-Crime Bill, May 22, 1990, The New York Times, In June, the bill was nearly doomed following a procedural vote that forced Senate leaders to work toward modifying its provisions. Thurmond proposed that his fellow senators accept portions of the bill that the Senate had already passed including provisions expanding the number of federal crimes for which the death penalty could apply from 23 to 30 and restrictions on the number of appeals a condemned inmate may file in Federal courts, and the ban on the sale and manufacture of nine types of semiautomatic weapons.NEWS,weblink Senate's Leaders Move to Salvage Crime Measure, June 8, 1990, The New York Times, In 1992, the Senate voted on an anti-crime bill, Thurmond predicting that it would not pass due to what he considered its lack of strength: "This weak bill expands the rights of criminals. It is a fraud. It is a sham." He stated that President Bush had told him in advance of his intent to veto the bill if it passed.NEWS,weblink Senate refuses to kill anti-crime bill filibuster, Steve, Gerstel, March 19, 1992, UPI, After President Bush nominated Clarence Thomas for Associate Justice, Thomas visited Thurmond and stated that he had been fortunate as a result of the Civil Rights Movement assisting him in getting out of poverty, a departure from his previous position of African-Americans achieving success through hard work and individual initiative. The New York Times observed, "Judge Thomas's remarks in Mr. Thurmond's office were not in response to reporters' specific questions and were clearly intended to rebut critics, including some by members of civil rights organizations, who say he should not be confirmed because of his vociferous opposition to affirmative action and racial quotas in hiring."NEWS,weblink Court Nominee Gives Credit To Civil Rights Movement, July 10, 1991, The New York Times, In September, as Thomas appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thurmond interrupted a line of questioning by Howard Metzenbaum to defend Thomas against a complaint that Thomas had answered questions about cases except for abortion.NEWS,weblink Thomas Undergoes Tough Questioning on Past Remarks, September 11, 1991, The New York Times, Thurmond voted for Thomas's confirmation, and the latter was confirmed by the Senate in October 1991.Thurmond became the head of the Armed Services Committee following the 1994 Republican Revolution, in which the Republican Party gained eight seats in the Senate and gained a majority in both chambers.NEWS,weblink The 1994 Elections: Congress the Overview; G.O.P. CELEBRATES ITS SWEEP TO POWER; CLINTON VOWS TO FIND COMMON GROUND, November 10, 1994, The New York Times, According to Thurmond, he had survived "a little power play" orchestrated by fellow Republicans to continue serving as Chairman.NEWS,weblink 'Power Play' Failed, Thurmond Says, February 8, 1995, The New York Times, In December, after President Clinton's announcement that he would seek a $25 billion increase in defense spending over the following six years, Thurmond called it a correct move but one which validated claims that the president had hastily cut the Pentagon budget.NEWS,weblink Thurmond praises, criticizes Clinton, December 1, 1994, UPI, In late 1995, Thurmond joined a bipartisan coalition of politicians in supporting a petition intending "to loosen the rules governing the prescription drug methylphenidate". The drug is commonly known by the brand name Ritalin.NEWS,weblink John, Merrow, Reading, Writing and Ritalin, October 21, 1995, The New York Times, In his 1996 re-election campaign, Thurmond received primary opposition from Harold G. Worley and Charlie Thompson, and the question of age appeared again, given that he was 93 years old at the time. Thurmond remarked that the issue was the only one expressed by members of the press,NEWS,weblink The 100-year-old Senator?, Lloyd, Grove, April 8, 1996, The Washington Post, even as polls showed "that the vast majority of South Carolinians believe it is far past time for him to retire."NEWS,weblink Thurmond's Robust Legend Shields Him at 93, October 24, 1996, The New York Times, Worley stated that the issue of age should be dealt with in the primary as opposed to the general election, encouraging Thurmond to be dropped as the seat's continuous nominee.NEWS,weblink South Carolina's Thurmond Still Running At 93, Bruce, Morton, CNN, In the general election, Thurmond received 53.4 percent of the vote to the 44 percent of Democrat Elliott Springs Close.On December 5, 1996, Thurmond became the oldest serving member of the U.S. Senate, and on May 25, 1997, the longest-serving member (41 years and 10 months), casting his 15,000th vote in September 1998.NEWS,weblink Senate Honors Thurmond, 95, for Casting His 15,000th Vote, September 3, 1998, Los Angeles Times, In the following month, when astronaut and fellow Senator John Glenn was to embark on the Discovery at age 77, Thurmond, who was his senior by 19 years, reportedly sent him a message saying; "I want to go too."National Geographic, June 1999 edition, p.80 On October 17, 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 into law, an authorization of "appropriations for military activities of the Department of Defense, military construction, and defense activities of the Department of Energy." Clinton stated that the bill being named after Thurmond was a "well-deserved and appropriate tribute" due to his thirty-six years in the U.S. Army Reserve and his primary focus in the Senate being on U.S. national defense.WEB,weblink Statement on Signing the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999, October 17, 1998, Bill, Clinton, Bill Clinton, American Presidency Project, File:Senator Thurmond 100th Birthday.jpg|thumb|310px|Army Chief of Staff Eric ShinsekiEric ShinsekiIn February 1999, Thurmond introduced legislation barring health messages on wine bottles, the measure intended to reverse what he called "erroneous and irresponsible" action of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The legislation transferred authority over labeling to the Department of Health and Human Services from the Treasury Department and increased taxes on wine.NEWS, Stout, David, February 23, 1999, Bill Would Bar Health Referral On Wine Label, The New York Times,weblink On May 26, 1999, the Senate voted on an amendment to a spending bill exonerating Husband E. Kimmel and Walter C. Short of charges of failing to anticipate the attack on Pearl Harbor that led to American involvement in World War II. Thurmond was noted as one of five Senate members to have been a World War II veteran and back the measure and called Kimmel and Short "the last victims" of Pearl Harbor.NEWS, Shenon, Philip, May 26, 1999, Senate Clears 2 Pearl Harbor 'Scapegoats', The New York Times,weblink May 1, 2018, In January 2001, Thurmond endorsed his son Strom Thurmond Jr. for federal prosecutor in South Carolina in a recommendation to the Senate.NEWS, January 24, 2001, National News Briefs; Thurmond Recommends Son for U.S. Attorney, The New York Times,weblink In March, Thurmond voted for an amendment to the campaign finance reform bill of John McCain and Russ Feingold. Thurmond had initially opposed the measure and changed his vote at the last minute.NEWS, Mitchell, Alison, March 27, 2001, Senate Extends Restrictions on Advertising, The New York Times,weblink Thurmond's 100th birthday was celebrated on December 5, 2002. Some remarks made by Mississippi Senator Trent Lott during the event were considered racially insensitive: "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we [Mississippi] voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either." Fifteen days later, on December 20, Lott resigned as the Senate Republican leader effective on January 3, 2003, the beginning of the next congressional session.BOOK, Bartlett, Bruce, Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past, St. Martin's Press, 2008, 978-0230600621, 182, Thurmond left the Senate in January 2003 as the United States' longest-serving senator, a record later surpassed by Senator Robert Byrd.NEWS, December 5, 2002, Thurmond marks 100th birthday, CNN,weblink Thurmond was succeeded by then-Representative and fellow Republican Lindsey Graham.

Health

Toward the end of Thurmond's Senate career, critics suggested his mental abilities had declined. His supporters argued that, while he lacked physical stamina due to his age, mentally he remained aware and attentive, and maintained a very active work schedule, showing up for every floor vote. He stepped down as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the beginning of 1999, as he had pledged to do in late 1997.NEWS,weblink Sen. Thurmond to Quit Armed Services Post, December 5, 1997, Los Angeles Times, Retrospectively, a Senate aide stated that "for his last ten years, Thurmond didn't know if he was on foot or on horseback", while a 2020 New Yorker article stated that he was "widely known" by the end of his career to be non compos mentis.MAGAZINE, Mayer, Jane, 2020-12-10, Dianne Feinstein's Missteps Raise a Painful Age Question Among Senate Democrats,weblink 2022-12-04, The New Yorker, en-US, {{external media| float = right| video1 = Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, held at the Dirksen Senate office building, December 5, 2002, C-SPAN| video2 = Tour of Thurmond's Senate office prior to his retirement, December 19, 2002, C-SPAN}}In August 1999, Thurmond underwent surgery for an enlarged prostate. In September, he was admitted to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for tests.NEWS,weblink National News Briefs; Thurmond Hospitalized For More Tests, September 13, 1999, The New York Times, In October 2000, Thurmond collapsed while lunching with a staff member and an acquaintance at a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, and was admitted to Walter Reed; his spokeswoman Genevieve Erny stated that the collapse was found to have been unrelated to previous illnesses.NEWS,weblink Strom Thurmond in Hospital After Collapse, October 1, 2000, The New York Times, On the morning of October 2, 2001, Thurmond was admitted to Walter Reed after fainting at his Senate desk. He was accompanied in the ambulance by fellow Republican and retired heart transplant surgeon Bill Frist.NEWS,weblink Ailing Strom Thurmond Faints in Senate Chamber, October 3, 2001, Asheville Citizen-Times, NEWS,weblink Thurmond Taken to Hospital After Fainting, October 3, 2001, The New York Times,

Personal life

Thurmond was married twice and fathered five children.

First daughter with Carrie Butler

{{external media| float = right| video1 = Essie Mae Williams news conference, December 17, 2003, C-SPAN| video2 = After Words interview with Williams on her book Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond, February 6, 2005, C-SPAN| video3 = Presentation by Williams at the Palm Springs Book Festival, April 16, 2005, C-SPAN}}File:Strom Thurmond's statue with Essie Mae added.jpg|thumb|In the text accompanying Strom Thurmond's statue at the Statehouse grounds, the phrase: "The father of four children", had the "four" replaced with "five" after Thurmond's fatherhood of Essie Mae WilliamsEssie Mae WilliamsFile:Ford B2348 NLGRF photo contact sheet (1976-11-29)(Gerald Ford Library) (cropped2).jpg|thumb|right|The Thurmond family with President Gerald FordGerald FordFile:President George W. Bush wishes Sen. Strom Thurmond happy birthday during a birthday celebration at the White House.jpg|thumb|right|President George W. BushGeorge W. BushSix months after Thurmond's death in 2003, Essie Mae Williams (1925{{ndash}}2013) publicly revealed she was his daughter. She was born on October 12, 1925, to Carrie "Tunch" Butler (1909 or 1910{{snd}}1948), who had worked for Thurmond's parents and was 15 or 16 years old when she gave birth.NEWS, thenation.com, March 15, 2004, Was Strom a Rapist?, ...Butler was born in 1909 or 1910. The only way the conclusion of statutory rape could be avoided is if Butler was born no later than early January 1909, and conception occurred just after her sixteenth birthday., Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw,weblink Essie Mae Williams was raised by her maternal aunt and uncle, and was not told that Thurmond was her father until she was in high school, when she met him for the first time. She later married, took on the last name Williams, had a family, and retired as a Los Angeles Unified School District elementary school teacher with a master's degree. Though the Thurmond family never publicly acknowledged Williams as his daughter while he was alive, he helped pay her way through a historically black college in South Carolina and continued to give her financial support well into her adult life.INTERVIEW, Essie Mae On Strom Thurmond,weblink February 11, 2009, Essie Mae, Washington-Williams, Transcript, CBS, November 28, 2011, Dan Rather, 60 Minutes, Williams said she did not reveal she was Thurmond's daughter during his lifetime because it "wasn't to the advantage of either one of us". She kept silent out of respect for her fatherNEWS, Associated Press, Thurmond's Family 'Acknowledges' Black Woman's Claim as Daughter, December 17, 2003,weblink Fox News, December 9, 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121103012430weblink">weblink November 3, 2012, dead, and denied the two had agreed she would not reveal her connection to him.After Williams came forward, the Thurmond family attorney acknowledged her parentage. Her name has been added to those of his other children on a monument to Thurmond installed at the statehouse grounds.weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050525033029weblink">"Daughter of late Sen. Strom Thurmond to join Confederacy group", Jet, July 19, 2004, retrieved March 26, 2009 Many close friends, staff members, and South Carolina residents had long suspected that Williams was Thurmond's daughter,NEWS,weblink The New York Times, Thurmond Kin Acknowledge Black Daughter, Michael, Janofsky, December 16, 2003, as they had noted his interest in her. As a young woman, she was granted a degree of access to Thurmond more typical of a family member than member of the public.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110711023428weblink">weblink dead, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, July 11, 2011, Williams later said she intended to join the Daughters of the American Revolution, and did apply to join the United Daughters of the Confederacy, as she was eligible through her Thurmond ancestry. Thurmond was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a similar group for men.NEWS, Thurmond's Biracial Daughter Seeks to Join Confederacy Group,weblink The New York Times, July 2, 2004, Shaila K., Dewan, Ariel, Hart, Evidently she is eligible: Senator Thurmond, once a fierce segregationist, was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a similar group for men., Her UDC application was not approved while she was alive.JOURNAL, The Secret Fight to Save Confederate Monuments, Glamour (magazine), Glamour, August 16, 2018,weblink June 25, 2021, Williams died on February 4, 2013, in Columbia, South Carolina, at age 87.NEWS, Strom Thurmond's Daughter, Essie Mae Washington Williams, Dies,weblinkweblink" title="archive.today/20130217021947weblink">weblink dead, February 17, 2013, Tony, Santaella, WLTX-TV, February 5, 2013, February 4, 2013,

First marriage

Thurmond was 44 when he married his first wife, Jean Crouch (1926–1960),BOOK, Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond, Jack, Bass, Jack Bass, Marilyn W., Thompson, Marilyn W. Thompson, 2003, Univ of South Carolina Press, 978-1-57003-514-2, 187,weblink January 20, 2012, in the South Carolina Governor's mansionBOOK, Strom Thurmond and the politics of southern change, Nadine, Cohodas, 1994, Mercer University Press, 978-0-86554-446-8, 288,weblink January 20, 2012, on November 7, 1947.BOOK, The centennial senator: true stories of Strom Thurmond from the people who knew him best, Robert J. Duke, Short, 2006, University of South Carolina Press, 978-0-9778870-0-2, 169,weblink January 20, 2012, In April 1947, when Crouch was a senior at Winthrop College, Thurmond was a judge in a beauty contest in which she was selected as Miss South Carolina. In June, upon her graduation, Thurmond hired her as his personal secretary. On September 13, 1947, Thurmond proposed marriage by calling Crouch to his office to take a dictated letter. The letter was to her, and contained his proposal of marriage.MAGAZINE, 1947, Governor wins secretary's hand, Life (magazine), Life, November 17, 1947, 44–46,weblink January 20, 2012, Crouch died of a brain tumor in 1960 at age 33; they had no children.

Second marriage

Thurmond married his second wife, Nancy Janice Moore, on December 22, 1968. He was 66 years old and she was 22. She had won Miss South Carolina in 1965. Two years later, he hired her to work in his Senate office. Although Nancy did not particularly enjoy politics, she nevertheless became a popular figure on Capitol Hill. At age 68 in 1971, Thurmond fathered the first of four children with Nancy, who was then 25. Thurmond and Nancy's children are: Nancy Moore Thurmond (1971–1993), a beauty pageant contestant who was killed by a drunk driver;NEWS,weblink Drunk driver in Five Points killed Strom Thurmond's 'little girl' 25 years ago, April 29, 2018, The State, Cody, Dulaney, July 6, 2022, James Strom Thurmond Jr. (b. 1972), a former U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina and Solicitor for the 2nd Judicial District of South Carolina.WEB,weblink National Association of Former United States AttorneysNational Association of Former United States Attorneys, National Association of Former United States Attorneys, "Strom Thurmond Jr. begins new career as solicitor" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224115819weblink |date=December 24, 2013 }} WRDW-TV, January 22, 2009, retrieved November 17, 2013 Juliana Whitmer (b. 1974),See A {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313031100weblink |date=March 13, 2012 }}. Juliana was the mother of Strom Thurmond's first grandchild B. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929092118weblink |date=September 29, 2008 }} See also weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110522061552weblink">C and D and Paul Reynolds Thurmond (b. 1976), a South Carolina State Senator.Thurmond's children remained in South Carolina with relatives, and Nancy commuted back and forth to Washington. Thurmond and Nancy separated in March 1991, after Nancy claimed that they no longer had a real marriage, stating "At this point in my life I would like to be able to pursue several career options and some measure of independence."NEWS,weblink Strom Thurmond, Wife Announce Separation, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, The Orlando Sentinel, March 29, 1991, April 26, 2020, She returned to South Carolina, where their children were living. Although Nancy casually dated other men during the early stages of the separation, neither she nor her husband considered divorce, and they reportedly remained close. It was alleged that she spoke with her husband several times each day, and he stayed at her house several times each month, whenever he returned to South Carolina. They continued attending events together.BOOK,weblink Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond, Bass, Jack, Thompson, Marilyn W., 2002, Univ of South Carolina Press, 9781570035142, en, They were also reported as estranged in 1996, when Nancy was facing trial for drunk driving.NEWS,weblink Thurmond's Wife Reveals Alcoholism, Associated Press, The Spokesman-Review, October 6, 1996, April 26, 2020, In 2001, they were still reported to be estranged when Nancy refused an offer to succeed Thurmond in the U.S. Senate.NEWS,weblink Strom In the Balance, James, Bennett, The New York Times Magazine, April 29, 2001, April 26, 2020,

Sexual misconduct allegations

According to NBC News in 2017, it was widely acknowledged around Congress that Thurmond inappropriately touched women throughout his career.NEWS,weblink Sexual Harassment Spotlight Shines on Capitol Hill, November 14, 2017, Leigh Ann, Caldwell, Kasie, Hunt, NBC News, May 27, 2020, Thurmond's colleague, Senator Patty Murray, stated that in early 1994, Thurmond, then 91, tried to fondle her breast in an elevator.NEWS,weblink Book recounts sexual harassment allegation against Sen. Thurmond by Sen. Patty Murray, November 8, 1996, Associated Press, May 27, 2020, Lewiston Morning Tribune, According to The New York Times, Thurmond had been known for fondling women in Senate elevators, and did not realize Murray was a fellow senator. The alleged incident prompted a statement from Thurmond's office, saying that he had not engaged in any inappropriate behavior, and that he was showing gentlemanly courtesy by assisting Murray into the elevator. Female Senate staffers from the late 1980s and early 1990s recalled that Thurmond was on an informal list of male senators who were known for harassing women regularly, such as while alone in elevators.NEWS, Desjardins, Lisa, Bush, Daniel, May 15, 2020, What 74 former Biden staffers think about Tara Reade's allegations, PBS Newshour,weblink Political reporter Cokie Roberts said in 2017 that Thurmond kissed her on the mouth, while she was live on the air at a political convention. Roberts stated that Thurmond "was in the category of his own" when it came to politicians and sexual harassment.NEWS,weblink Cokie Roberts On Politicians And Sexual Harassment, National Public Radio, November 15, 2017, May 27, 2020,

Death

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,NEWS, Henry J., Gomez, Darren, Sands, February 17, 2019,weblink Joe Biden Once Spoke At Strom Thurmond's Memorial Service. How Do People Feel About That Now?, March 27, 2021, and later to the family burial plot in Willowbrook Cemetery in Edgefield, where he was interred.WEB,weblink Thurmond, James Strom, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, March 27, 2021, NEWS, 2003-07-01, Funeral of Senator James Strom Thurmond,weblink dead, en, Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia and Edgefield, South Carolina, WYFF,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120323010626weblink">weblink 2012-03-23, 2022-12-12,

Electoral history

Legacy

File:ThurmondBust.jpg|thumb|Bust of Thurmond by Frederick E. Hart, held by the U.S. Senate]]Diane Norman of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal called Thurmond "a political icon depicted in life-size statues in Columbia and Edgefield and whose name graces seven public buildings, a shopping mall, a high school, a National Guard armory, a lake, a dam and an interstate highway."WEB,weblink Hollings' comments draw fire AIDE: Junior senator intended no harm in saying Thurmond isn't 'mentally keen' GOP criticizes Hollings' remarks on Thurmond, August 31, 2001, GoUpstate, Former Slate senior writer Timothy Noah wrote that Thurmond's most significant political contribution was his backing of segregation and myths had been construed on the part of his contemporaries to explain his continued wielding of national influence.MAGAZINE,weblink The Legend of Strom's Remorse, Timothy, Noah, December 16, 2002, Slate, South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson referred to Thurmond as South Carolina's greatest statesman in the 20th century.PRESS RELEASE,weblink Statement on Death of Strom Thurmond, June 26, 2003, U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson, September 10, 2022, Time writes that Thurmond's party switch "marked the beginning of the GOP's appeal to white, Southern conservatives, and helped turn a former blue state red."MAGAZINE,weblink The Crist Switch: Top 10 Political Defections, Time, April 29, 2009, It has been argued that Thurmond's backing of Nixon in the 1968 election served as the basis for the Southern strategy, with former Thurmond aide Lee Atwater admitting that the race served as the "blueprint for everything" he did in subsequent elections.WEB,weblink Southern racist who pragmatically embraced policy of inclusion, June 28, 2003, Irish Times, Thurmond adviser Harry Dent saidHe played the key and strategic role in pioneering and paving the way for that change. Presidential politics have been changed by Strom Thurmond and what he did more than by anybody in this country in these recent years.In 1997, future Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Thurmond "somebody I have heard about, observed and admired all of my life."WEB,weblink Tribute to Senator Strom Thurmond, June 3, 1997, Government Publishing Office,

Cultural and political image

Both Thurmond and his 1948 presidential campaign have been described as racist,WEB,weblink From the Left: Trump brought back southern strategy for GOP, September 20, 2020, Daily Commercial, Marvin, Jacobsin, It was to change from being open racists, like Thurmond and Wallace, to using code words like forced busing and affirmative action instead of openly racist words., WEB,weblink What were Thurmond's views in 1948?, Ken, Neal, December 22, 2002, He finally publicly recanted his racist positions of 1948., and he has been called "one of the most notorious segregationists in history".WEB,weblink Joe Biden Once Spoke At Strom Thurmond's Memorial Service. How Do People Feel About That Now?, February 17, 2019, Buzzfeed News, In 1968, The New York Times described Thurmond as "a South Carolina maverick with a highly developed taste for lost causes".WEB,weblink Thurmond Promotes Nixon's Cause Deep in Wallace Country, October 13, 1968, The New York Times, The Oklahoman wrote that he would anger Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson because he could not be controlled and the key to Thurmond's longevity was his prioritizing of his constituents' concerns being addressed.WEB,weblink Lawmaker was political paradox Strom Thurmond left behind a complex legacy after decades of service as a U.S. senator., Wayne, Haigler, Oklahoman, July 17, 2005, By the 1970s, Thurmond had helped established scholarships for black students at four South Carolina colleges and his influence in federal bureaucracy gave him an advantage in "announcing federal grants and bird-dogging federal projects of particular interest to black voters."Thurmond received black support in his 1978 re-election and African-Americans were noted to "praise their onetime nemesis as a driving force behind the influx of more federal dollars to the state's minority neighborhoods."NEWS,weblink NAACP Extends a Brotherly Arm to Thurmond, The Washington Post, May 17, 1979, Jim Naughton of The Washington Post found Thurmond to have "transformed his own image from radical to pragmatist, from The Whitest Man in America to Uncle Strom, Our Friend in Washington."NEWS,weblink 'UNCLE STROM' THE PRAGMATIST'S LEGACY, November 2, 1988, The Washington Post, Nevertheless, Thurmond's racially charged language during the earlier part of his career left him with a mixed reputation among African Americans, receiving only 20% of their vote in his last election in 1996.NEWS,weblink Blacks Recall Thurmond as Enemy and Friend, June 28, 2003, Los Angeles Times, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said Thurmond's sole legacy was of "durability and opposition to civil rights" and called Thurmond "a relic of America's shameful past, who had long overstayed his welcome."WEB,weblink Strom Thurmond: Relic of past overstayed his welcome, December 13, 2002, People's World, Julian, Bond, Julian Bond, In 2003, political scientist Willie Leggett stated, "Thurmond is not going to be a hero for black people because he never became a proponent of black rights."In 1980, Bill Peterson remarked that the 77-year-old Thurmond "still has that rare peculiar magic few politicians ever achieve" with young autograph seekers and admirers. Peterson stressed, however, that Thurmond's popularity was "being put to a severe test" in his efforts to help John Connally win the South Carolina primary.NEWS,weblink Thurmond's Coattails Are Failing Connally, Bill, Peterson, February 18, 1980, The Washington Post, By the time of his last campaign in 1996, Thurmond faced increased focus to his age and calls for his retirement.WEB,weblink At 93, He's Still Going Strom But Senator's Age Has Become An Issue As He Campaigns For Another Term This Year, March 3, 1996, State newspapers, historically unfailingly supportive of Thurmond, are starting to focus on his age., WEB,weblink Thurmond should retire, January 3, 1996, GoUpstate, Thurmond opened his final campaign in a speech at the University of South Carolina-Aiken, proclaiming that he would not give up on "our mission to right the 40-year wrongs of liberalism" and that South Carolinians knew he did not like "unfinished business."WEB,weblink April 9, 1996, Thurmond, 93, Opens Bid for 8th Senate Term, Buffalo News, As the 107th United States Congress began, the Democrats and Republicans were split evenly with Vice President Dick Cheney as the tie-breaking vote, and Thurmond's attendance was seen as crucial for maintaining a Republican majority given that his retirement or death would allow Democratic governor Jim Hodges to appoint a Democrat to his seat. Thurmond spokeswoman Genevieve Erny commented, "It's unfortunate that the media continue to portray him as in failing health, especially because the only reason the media is interested is a 50-50 split, and the repercussions that could have."WEB,weblink At 50-50, Senate is on a Strom watch, April 23, 2001, Christian Science Monitor, In a 2001 interview, colleague Fritz Hollings said that Thurmond was no longer "mentally keen" nor did he "have a home, and someone has said the best nursing home is the U.S. Senate."WEB,weblink Hollings: Thurmond not 'mentally keen', August 30, 2001, UPI, Ira Shapiro of The Gazette cited Thurmond by the end of his tenure as "a joke and an embarrassment; virtually unable to speak or hear, he had to be carried into committee meetings."WEB,weblink An eighth term for Sen. Chuck Grassley?, June 29, 2022, Ira, Shapiro, The Gazette, After his retirement, Thurmond's early career and those of slave owner John C. Calhoun and Benjamin Tillman were cited as political symbols of South Carolina's historical racism and denial of basic civil rights to minority groups.WEB,weblink Haley taps on S.C.'s glass ceiling, Politico, June 22, 2010, The South Carolina that produced John C. Calhoun, "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman and the Dixiecrat version of Strom Thurmond hasn't totally receded — the whispers and worries about Haley's Sikh heritage underscore that — and it certainly isn't getting any less conservative in the short term., In 2011, Public Policy Polling found Thurmond to be the most popular politician in South Carolina, with higher favorability ratings than current lawmakers Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley, Jim Demint, and Mark Sanford.WEB,weblink Thurmond most popular statewide figure in South Carolina, September 2, 2011, Public Policy Polling,

Honors

• The Strom Thurmond Foundation, Inc., provides financial aid support to South Carolina residents in financial need. The Foundation was established in 1974 by Thurmond with honoraria received from speeches and donations from friends and family.
• A reservoir on the Georgia–South Carolina border is named after him: Lake Strom Thurmond.
• The University of South Carolina is home to the Strom Thurmond Fitness Center, one of the largest fitness complexes on a college campus. The new complex has largely replaced the Blatt Fitness center, named for Solomon Blatt, a political rival of Thurmond. In July 2021, the university's Presidential Commission on University History recommended removing Thurmond's name from the building.WEB,weblink Appendix 11: Research Reports on Building Names: Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center, Presidential Commission on University History, University of South Carolina, July 16, 2021, October 25, 2021,

File:StromThurmond GeorgeBush.jpg|thumb|Thurmond receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. Bush

• Charleston Southern University has a Strom Thurmond Building, which houses the school's business offices, bookstore, and post office.
• Thurmond Building at Winthrop University is named for him. He served on Winthrop's Board of Trustees from 1936 to 1938 and again from 1947 to 1951 when he was governor of South Carolina.
• A statue of Strom Thurmond is located on the southern grounds of the South Carolina State Capitol as a memorial to his service to the state.
• The Strom Thurmond Federal Building and United States Courthouse is named after him.NEWS,weblink Don't Laugh—It's Your Money', October 28, 1979, The Washington Post,
• Strom Thurmond High School is located in his hometown of Edgefield, South Carolina.
• Al Sharpton was reported on February 24, 2007, to be a descendant of slaves owned by the Thurmond family. Sharpton has not asked for a DNA test.n:Al Sharpton speaks out on race, rights and what bothers him about his critics|Interview with Al Sharpton]], David Shankbone, Wikinews, December 3, 2007.NEWS, Slavery links families, Austin, Fenner, Daily News, New York, February 25, 2007,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070227111256weblink">weblink February 27, 2007, NEWS, Fernanda, Santos, Sharpton Learns His Forebears Were Thurmonds' Slaves,weblink The New York Times, February 26, 2007, November 26, 2007,
• The U.S. Air Force has a C-17 Globemaster named the Spirit of Strom Thurmond.WEB, Elliott, Scott, Spirit of Strom Thurmond' honors senator's 100 years,weblink www.af.mil, December 12, 2002, Air Force Print News, December 12, 2019,
• The mobilization complex at Fort Liberty, North Carolina (commonly known as 'Green Ramp') is named in his honor.WEB, Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 131 (Tuesday, October 8, 2002),weblink June 17, 2020, www.govinfo.gov,
• In 1989, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Ronald Reagan.WEB,weblink Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Citizens Medal, January 18, 1989, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, Ronald, Reagan, Ronald Reagan, April 4, 2018,weblink April 5, 2018, dead,
• Strom Thurmond Boulevard, located in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, is named in his honor.
• In 1993, he was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H. W. Bush.JOURNAL,weblink Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change, Reed, John Shelton, June 1, 1993, Reason (magazine), Reason, October 31, 2009, NEWS,weblink Bush presents Thurmond with Medal of Freedom, January 12, 1993, UPI,
• The Strom Thurmond Institute is located on the campus of Clemson University.

{{clear}}

See also

• List of American politicians who switched parties in office
• List of United States senators who switched parties
• List of federal political sex scandals in the United States

Notes and references

Explanatory notes

{{notelist}}

Citations

{{Reflist}}

Works cited

• BOOK, Bass, Jack, Jack Bass,weblink Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond, Thompson, Marilyn W., Marilyn W. Thompson, PublicAffairs, 2005, 9781586482978, New York, 2005047581, 3424613M, August 8, 2021, registration,
• BOOK, Bass, Jack,weblink Ol' Strom, Thompson, Marilyn W., Longstreet, 1998, 9781563525230, 98066360, 392148M, August 8, 2021, registration,
• BOOK, Cohodas, Nadine,weblink Strom Thurmond and The Politics of Southern Change, Simon & Schuster, 1993, 9780671689353, 92032417, 1728173M, August 8, 2021, registration,
• BOOK, Crespino, Joseph,weblink Strom Thurmond's America, Hill & Wang, 2012, 9780809094806, New York, 2011048025, 25132128M, August 8, 2021, registration,
• BOOK, Lachicotte, Alberta Morel,weblink Rebel Senator: Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, Devin-Adair Publishing Company, 1966, New York, 66026024, 5994477M, August 8, 2021, registration,

Further reading

• Buchanan, Scott E. "The dixiecrat rebellion: Long‐Term partisan implications in the deep south." Politics & Policy 33.4 (2005): 754-769.
• Frederickson, Kari. The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932–1968 (University of North Carolina Press (March 26, 2001). {{ISBN|0-8078-4910-3}}.
• Pietrusza, David 1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Changed America, Union Square Press, 2011.
• Pleasants, Julian M. "Claude Pepper, Strom Thurmond, and the 1948 Presidential Election in Florida." Florida Historical Quarterly 76.4 (1998): 439-473. online

Primary sources

• "The Faith We Have Not Kept", by Strom Thurmond: Viewpoint Books, 1968.
• Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond by Essie Mae Washington-Williams, William Stadiem: Regan Books (February 1, 2005). {{ISBN|0-06-076095-8}}.

External links

{{commons|Strom Thurmond}}{{external media | width = 210px | float = right | headerimage= | video1 = Booknotes interview with Nadine Cohodas on Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change, April 4, 1993, C-SPAN|video2 = Presentation by Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson on Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond, January 12, 1999, C-SPAN}}

• {{C-SPAN|2578}}
• Strom Thurmond Collection at Clemson University
• U.S. Senate historical page on Strom Thurmond
• SCIway Biography of Strom Thurmond
• National Governors Association 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 â€“ January 18, 1989 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924111853weblink |date=September 24, 2015 }}
• Complete transcript and audio and video of Sen. Joe Biden's Eulogy for Strom Thurmond
• {{Find a Grave|7623767}}

Articles

• Strom Thurmond's family confirms paternity claim, by David Mattingly, CNN.com, December 15, 2003

{hide}CongLinks

• The Scarred Stone: The Strom Thurmond Monument {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015113839weblink |date=October 15, 2013 }} by Joseph Crespino, Emory University, April 29, 2010

Obituaries

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20030801112821weblink">Tribute to Strom Thurmond from The State â€” June 26, 2003
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030629172712weblink |date=June 29, 2003 |title=Strom Thurmond dead at 100 }}, CNN, June 26, 2003
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060626114507weblink">Strom Thurmond Dead at 100, by James Di Liberto Jr., Fox News, June 26, 2003

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