*** Welcome to piglix ***

Strom Thurmond

Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond.jpg
Official Senate picture, 1983
United States Senator
from South Carolina
In office
November 7, 1956 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by Thomas A. Wofford
Succeeded by Lindsey Graham
In office
December 24, 1954 – April 4, 1956
Preceded by Charles E. Daniel
Succeeded by Thomas A. Wofford
President pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate
In office
June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Robert Byrd (2007)
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office
January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by Warren G. Magnuson
Succeeded by John C. Stennis
In office
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2001
Preceded by Robert Byrd
Succeeded by Robert Byrd
In office
January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2001
Preceded by Robert Byrd
Succeeded by Robert Byrd
103rd Governor of South Carolina
In office
January 21, 1947 – January 16, 1951
Lieutenant George Bell Timmerman, Jr.
Preceded by Ransome Judson Williams
Succeeded by James F. Byrnes
Member of the South Carolina Senate from Edgefield County
In office
January 10, 1933 – January 14, 1938
Preceded by Thomas Benjamin Greneker
Succeeded by William Preston Yonce
Personal details
Born James Strom Thurmond
(1902-12-05)December 5, 1902
Edgefield, South Carolina, U.S.
Died June 26, 2003(2003-06-26) (aged 100)
Edgefield, South Carolina, U.S.
Resting place Willowbrook Cemetery, Edgefield, South Carolina
Political party Democratic (before 1964)
Republican (1964–2003)
Other political
affiliations
Dixiecrat (1948)
Spouse(s) Jean Crouch (m. 1947–60)
Nancy Moore (m. 1968–2003); his death
Children Essie Mae
Nancy Moore, Jr.
James Strom, Jr.
Juliana
Paul Reynolds
Alma mater Clemson University
Profession Teacher
Lawyer
Religion Southern Baptist
Awards Legion of Merit (2)
Bronze Star with valor
Purple Heart
World War II Victory Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
Order of the Crown
Croix de Guerre
Signature
Military service
Allegiance  United States of America
Service/branch  United States Army
United States Army Reserves
Years of service 1924–1964
Rank US-O8 insignia.svg Major General
Battles/wars World War II
*Normandy Campaign

James Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who served for 48 years as a United States Senator from South Carolina. He ran for president in 1948 as the States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes. Thurmond represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 until 2003, at first as a Democrat and, after 1964, as a Republican.

A magnet for controversy during his nearly half-century Senate career, Thurmond switched parties because of his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, disaffection with the liberalism of the national party, and his support for the conservatism of the Republican presidential candidate Senator Barry Goldwater. He left office as the only member of either house of Congress to reach the age of 100 while still in office, and as the oldest-serving and longest-serving senator in U.S. history (although he was later surpassed in length of service by Robert Byrd and Daniel Inouye). Thurmond holds the record as the longest-serving member of Congress to serve exclusively in the Senate. He is also the longest-serving Republican member of Congress in U.S. history. At 14 years, he was also the longest-serving Dean of the United States Senate in U.S. history.

In opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, he conducted the longest filibuster ever by a lone senator, at 24 hours and 18 minutes in length, nonstop. In the 1960s, he opposed the civil rights legislation of 1964 and 1965 to end segregation and enforce the constitutional rights of African-American citizens, including suffrage. He invariably insisted he had never been a racist, but was opposed to excessive federal authority. He attributed the movement to Communist agitators. In 1948, Thurmond said:


...
Wikipedia

...