(James) Strom Thurmond(1902-2003) is one of the great names in South Carolina politics with a career spanning over 75 years. Born in Edgefield, SC, Thurmond graduated from Clemson University in 1923. In 1928 he won his first elected office as superintendent of the Edgefield County schools. At the same time, he studied law with his father and was admitted to the state bar in 1930 (Photo of Thurmond on SC State House grounds by author)

In 1932, Thurmond was elected to the State Senate where he served until 1938; Thurmond made his mark in the Senate in the field of education and his efforts won him a seat on the Winthrop College Board of Trustees. Winthrop later named a building for him.

Thurmond was elected as a judge by the State Legislature in 1938 and while serving as a judge, volunteered for the army during World War II, this despite the fact that he was old enough to avoid service. As a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, he was wounded during the D-Day landing in France when his glider crashed behind German lines.

After returning home, Thurmond resigned from the bench to run for Governor in 1946. Thurmond once again championed education as well as encouraging women to serve in government. But his most significant moment occurred outside of South Carolina when he ran for President in 1948 on the State’s Rights or “Dixiecrat” ticket. In 1950, Thurmond lost the Democratic US Senatorial primary against Olin Johnston; this was the only election he ever lost. Four years later, he came back running as a write-in candidate for the US Senate. Thus began one of the longest Senate careers in US history.
Thurmond was a staunch opponent of Civil Rights legislation and in 1957 filibustered a civil rights bill for over 24 hours. As time went on, Thurmond became more and more disenchanted with the Democratic party and in 1964, switched to the Republicans and supported Sen. Barry Goldwater for President. Ever the realist, Thurmond began to moderate his views on race and was the first southern Senator to hire a black man for his staff, Tom Moss.

With the Republican takeover of the Senate in 1980, Thurmond became chairman of the Judiciary Committee and supported the renewal of the Voting Rights Act as well as a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King.

Thurmond remained in the Senate until 2003 when he retired to a 2-room suite in the Edgefield County Hospital where he died on June 26, 2003.

Thurmond was married twice and the father of four children. In December 2003, Essie Mae Washington-Williams of Los Angeles came forward to say she was the child of Thurmond and a family servant. The Thurmond family has not contested her claim.
 

Source: South Carolina Encyclopedia

For more information on Strom Thurmond, please go to www.strom.clemson.edu/strom/bio.html or

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl

If you enjoyed this article, please check my Examiner page at www.examiner.com/x-8167-Columbia-History-Examiner