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Strom Thurmond served in the United States Senate from 1956 to 2003 (interrupted in 1956). He was a supporter of the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.
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.
In September of 1964, Thurmond joined the Republican Party. He chaired the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees and was elected president pro tempore. He turned 100 years old in 2002, the only senator to reach that milestone while still in office.
- Early Life and Career
- Dixiecrat Presidential Campaign
- Famous Filibuster
- Changing Party Alignments
- Later Career
- Legacy
- Strom Thurmond Fact Facts
- Sources
James Strom Thurmond was born December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina. His father was an attorney and prosecutor who was also deeply involved in state politics. Thurmond graduated from Clemson University in 1923 and worked in local schools as an athletic coach and teacher. Thurmond became Edgefield County's director of education in 1929. He w...
In 1948, as President Harry S. Truman moved to integrate the U.S. military and embark on other civil rights initiatives, southern politicians responded with outrage. The Democratic Party in the South had long stood for segregation and Jim Crow rule, and as Democrats gathered for their national convention in Philadelphia, southerners reacted fiercel...
After his term as governor ended in 1951, Thurmond returned to private law practice. His political career seemed to have ended with the Dixiecrat campaign, as establishment Democrats resented the danger he had posed to the party in the 1948 election. In 1952, he vocally opposed the candidacy of Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson. As the issue of ci...
When Barry Goldwater ran for president in as a Republican in 1964, Thurmond broke from the Democrats to support him. And as the Civil Rights Movementtransformed America in the mid-1960s, Thurmond was one of the prominent conservatives who migrated from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. In the election of 1968, the support of Thurmond an...
Following the tumult of the 1960s, Thurmond forged a somewhat more moderate image, leaving behind his reputation as a segregationist firebrand. He became a fairly conventional senator, focusing on pork barrel projectsthat would help his home state. In 1971, he made news when he became one of the first southern senators to hire a Black staff member....
A few months after Thurmond's death, Essie-Mae Washington-Williams came forward and revealed that she was Thurmond's daughter. Washington-Williams' mother, Carrie Butler, was an African-American woman who, at age 16, had been employed as a domestic worker at Thurmond's family home. During that time, the 22-year-old Thurmond had fathered a child wit...
Full Name: James Strom ThurmondOccupation: Segregationist politician and U.S. Senator for 48 years.Born: December 5, 1902 in Edgefield, South Carolina, USADied: June 26, 2003 in Edgefield, South Carolina, USAWalz, Jay. "Carolinian Sets Talking Record." New York Times, 30 August 1957, p. 1.Hulse, Carl. "Lott Apologizes Again on Words About '48 Race." New York Times, 12 December 2002, p 1.Clymer, Adam. "Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100." New York Times, 27 June 2003.Janofsky, Michael. "Thurmond Kin Acknowledge Black Daughter." New York Times, 16 December 2003.Jun 22, 2024 · Strom Thurmond was an American politician who was a prominent states’ rights and segregation advocate. He ran for the presidency in 1948 on the Dixiecrat ticket and was one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history (1954–2003). Learn more about Thurmond’s life and career in this article.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
May 29, 2018 · For much of his Senate career, Thurmond served on the Armed Services Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Veterans' Affairs Committee. From 1981 to 1987 he was chair of the Judiciary Committee, where he helped President ronald reagan secure Senate confirmation of his judicial appointments.
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Strom Thurmond served in the United States Senate from 1956 to 2003. He was a supporter of the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.
