Strom Thurmond

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). Thurmond's father was a lawyer and politician who served as a county supervisor and representative to the South Carolina General Assembly. In 1902, Thurmond's father unsuccessfully contested the election for United States Congress. Strom's mother came from a well-known Edgefield family. She was a deeply religious woman, known for delivering prayers.

Thurmond learned to ride ponies, horses, and bulls from an early age. When Thurmond was four, his family moved into a larger home, where they owned about six acres (2.4 ha) of land. His parents were frequently visited by politicians and lawyers. At six years old, he had an encounter with Benjamin Tillman, a senator from South Carolina. Thurmond remembered the handshake with Tillman as his first political skill.

Thurmond attended Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina (now Clemson University), where he studied horticulture. At Clemson, he served as the president of the Calhoun Literary Society, where he debated and learned parliamentary procedure. He was deeply influenced by his English professor—David Wistar Daniel, namesake of D. W. Daniel High School. Thurmond graduated from Clemson in 1923 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

After his graduation, Thurmond worked as a farmer, teacher, and athletic coach.

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 with Butler. While her paternity was long hidden, he helped support her and paid for her college education.

In 1929, Thurmond was appointed as Edgefield County's superintendent of education. While serving as superintendent of education, he began studying to become a lawyer by reading law under his father's guidance.

Early career (1933–1947)

South Carolina Senate (1933–1938)

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.

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.

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 – 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.

During 1954–55, Thurmond was president of the Reserve Officers Association. He retired from the U.S. Army Reserve with the rank of major general.

Governor of South Carolina (1947–1951)

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, 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 were found guilty by an all-white jury, in a case where the defense called no witnesses, Thurmond was congratulated by the NAACP and the ACLU for his efforts to bring the murderers to justice.

In 1949, Thurmond oversaw the opening of Camp Croft State Park. In November he was unanimously elected Chairman of the Southern Governors Conference and was considered to be a states' rights nominee.

Various reforms were also carried out in areas such as education, agriculture, working conditions, and social welfare during Thurmond's time as governor.

1948 presidential campaign

During his first year as governor, Thurmond publicly supported Truman, saying during a 1947 radio broadcast:

We who believe in a liberal political philosophy, in the importance of human rights as well as property rights, in the preservation and strengthening of the economic and social gains brought about by the efforts of the Democratic Party … will vote for the election of Harry Truman.

In the 1948 presidential election, however, Thurmond ran for president as the nominee of 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 policies regarding racial segregation and Jim Crow laws and practices.

Thurmond's supporters took control of the Democratic Party in the Deep South. Truman was not 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. Thurmond said that Truman, Thomas Dewey, and Henry A. Wallace would lead the U.S. to totalitarianism. He said civil rights initiatives were dangerous to the American constitution and made the country susceptible to communism in the event of their enactment, challenging Truman to a debate on the issue. Thurmond carried four states and received 39 electoral votes, but Truman was reelected.

During the campaign, Thurmond said in a speech met with loud cheers by his assembled supporters:

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 Nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.

1950 U.S. Senate campaign in South Carolina

According to term 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. 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.

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

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. Easily winning the 1954 election, he was the first person to be elected to the U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate. 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. 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.

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. In early 1956, Thurmond resigned from the Senate, keeping the promise he had made two years earlier. 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. In an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the bill's passage, Thurmond filibustered the bill, speaking for a total of 24 hours and 18 minutes, the longest recorded filibuster speech by a lone senator. 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. Despite his efforts, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 on August 29. 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".

1960s

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. 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 2026, 1960 remains the last time a Democrat won South Carolina's Class 2 Senate seat. 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.

Thurmond predicted the 87th Congress would begin with a move to remove him from the Senate Democratic Caucus. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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. In September 1962, Thurmond called for an invasion of Cuba. 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. 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. Along with Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, Thurmond delayed the Nitze nomination. In spite of Thurmond voting against him, the nomination was approved.

1970s

In 1970, African-Americans constituted about 30 percent of South Carolina's population. 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.

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. 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. 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. Calley's petition for habeas corpus was granted three years later, in addition to his immediate release from house arrest. In January 1975, Thurmond and William Scott toured South Vietnam, Thurmond receiving a medal from President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. The award was seen as part of an attempt by South Vietnam to court American congressional votes in its favor.

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." 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. Nevertheless, days later, President Nixon ordered an end to the embargo.

1980s

In December 1979, Thurmond endorsed the presidential campaign of former Governor of Texas John Connally. In an election cycle that also featured Reagan, 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. 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. 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. 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. Thurmond questioned Carter over his prior refusal to disclose the amount of funds he had received from public appearances after the 1976 Presidential election, and stated his skepticism with some of the points made.

After Republicans won a majority in the 1980 Senate election, Thurmond pledged that he would seek a death penalty law, and stated his conviction that "the death penalty is a deterrent to crime" in an interview the following year. 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. 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. Reagan later named Edwards Energy Secretary, and the latter served in that position for over a year. 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, and stated his intent to have the incoming Reagan administration to look into the facts of the case before proceeding.

Thurmond became president pro tempore of the United States 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. 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. After the March assassination attempt on President Reagan, Thurmond stated his support for legislation imposing a ban on the gun components on a seven-point anti-crime program. He indicated his backing would only be in favor of passing measures to restrict criminals accessing guns and his announcement was seen as possibly indicating a change in the debate of regulations relating to firearms in the U.S. Thurmond also announced plans to hold hearings on the seven-point proposal intended to address the questions surrounding the Reagan assassination attempt.

1990s and 2000s

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." 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. 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.)

In early 1990, Thurmond sponsored a crime bill concurrent with another measure of the same intent, his version receiving the support of President Bush. Thurmond charged the Democratic proposal with aiding criminals and furthering the loss of rights on the part of victims. 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. 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.

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." 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. Thurmond voted for Thomas's confirmation, and the latter was confirmed by the Senate in October 1991.

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. 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.

In August 1999, Thurmond underwent surgery for an enlarged prostate. In September, he was admitted to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for tests. 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. 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.

Personal life

Thurmond was married twice and fathered five children.

First daughter with Carrie Butler

Six months after Thurmond's death in 2003, Essie Mae Washington-Williams (1925–2013) publicly revealed she was his daughter. She was born on October 12, 1925, to Carrie "Tunch" Butler (1909 or 1910 – 1948), who had worked for Thurmond's parents and was 15 or 16 years old when she gave birth.

Essie Mae Washington 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 Washington-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 Washington-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. Washington-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 father and denied the two had agreed she would not reveal her connection to him.

After Washington-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. Many close friends, staff members, and South Carolina residents had long suspected that Washington-Williams was Thurmond's daughter, 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 a member of the public.

Washington-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. Her UDC application was not approved while she was alive.

Washington-Williams died on February 4, 2013, in Columbia, South Carolina, at age 87.

First marriage

Thurmond was 44 when he married his first wife, Jean Crouch (1926–1960), in the South Carolina Governor's mansion on November 7, 1947. 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. 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; 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, Juliana Whitmer (b. 1974), and Paul Reynolds Thurmond (b. 1976), a former 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." 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. They were also reported as estranged in 1996, when Nancy was facing trial for drunk driving. In 2001, they were still reported to be estranged when Nancy refused an offer to succeed Thurmond in the U.S. Senate.

Sexual misconduct allegations

According to NBC News in 2017, it was widely acknowledged around Congress that Thurmond inappropriately touched women throughout his career. Thurmond's colleague, Senator Patty Murray, stated in 1996 that Thurmond, who was 91 years old at the time of the incident, tried to fondle her breast in an elevator. 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.

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 a category of his own" when it came to politicians and sexual harassment.

Death

Thurmond died from complications of old age 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, and later to the family burial plot in Willowbrook Cemetery in Edgefield, where he is interred.

Legacy

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." 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. South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson referred to Thurmond as South Carolina's greatest statesman in the 20th century.

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." 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. Thurmond adviser Harry Dent said

He 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."

Cultural and political image

Thurmond's 1948 presidential campaign positions were racist. In 1968, The New York Times described Thurmond as "a South Carolina maverick with a highly developed taste for lost causes". 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.

By the 1970s, Thurmond had helped establish 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." 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."

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. 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." 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.

By the time of his last campaign in 1996, Thurmond faced increased focus to his age and calls for his retirement. 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." 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." 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."

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.

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 in Columbia, South Carolina, is named after him.

Strom Thurmond High School is located in his hometown of Edgefield, South Carolina.

The U.S. Air Force has a C-17 Globemaster named the Spirit of Strom Thurmond.

The mobilization complex at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (commonly known as 'Green Ramp') is named in his honor.

In 1989, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Ronald Reagan.