Strom Thurmond

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 47 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 He had earlier run for president in 1948 as the Dixiecrat candidate in opposition to Democrat Harry Truman receiving over a million votes and winning four states and endorsed Republican Dwight Eisenhower for president in the 1950s 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 the 1960s he voted against both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 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 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 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 As a Republican 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 oldestserving senator and died less than six months later His 47 years as a senator a record at the time is the fourthlongest in US history behind Robert Byrd Daniel Inouye and Patrick Leahy At 14 years Thurmond was also the longestserving Dean of the United States Senate in political history