James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was a prominent American politician who served South Carolina in the U.S. Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his lengthy Senate career, he held the position of the 103rd governor of South Carolina from 1947 to 1951. Initially a member of the Democratic Party, Thurmond switched to the Republican Party in 1964. He notably ran for president in 1948 as a Dixiecrat, opposing Democrat Harry Truman, and garnered over a million votes while winning four states. During the 1950s, he endorsed Republican Dwight Eisenhower for the presidency.
Thurmond was well-known for his strong opposition to civil rights legislation during the 1950s and 1960s. He famously conducted a filibuster that lasted 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. He continued to oppose key civil rights measures, voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While he maintained that his views stemmed from a belief in states' rights rather than racism, his legacy remains closely tied to his support for segregation.
As a Republican, Thurmond held influential roles, including President pro tempore of the Senate three times and chair of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee for significant periods. He retired in 2003, becoming the oldest-serving senator in history and the first to reach age 100 while in office, passing away shortly thereafter. His 47-year tenure in the Senate was a record at the time, ranking as the fourth-longest in U.S. history.
