Strom Thurmond
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James Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 - June 26, 2003) was an American politician. He was best known for being the longest and oldest serving member of the United States Senate to date. He was also Governor of his home state South Carolina and a Presidential candidate. He was a lawyer.
Thurmond spent more than 70 year of his life on public career. Before World War II he served as state senator and judge. During war he served in the US Army in Europe and briefly in Asia. In 1960 he was promoted to the rank of general major.
From 1947 to 1951 he served as Governor of South Carolina (as a Democrat). During 1948 U.S. Presidential Election he became the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party faction called "Dixiecrat" (States Rights Democrat, mostly from the South) - a strong supporters of racial segregation. Thurmond and his Vice Presidential candidate, Mississippi Governor Fielding Lewis Wright finished the race in 's3rd (behind Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey) with 39 electoral votes and they carried 4 states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and, of course, Thurmond home state).
He was elected, as first write-in candidate for major national office, to the Senate in 1954. He was reelected for his first full term in 1956 and served until January 2003. He was originally a Democrat, but in 1964 he openly supported Barry Goldwater's presidential bid and became a Republican.
As the longest serving Republican he was President pro tempore of the United States Senate for three occasions (1981-1987, 1995-2001, and January 2001-June 2001), when Republican gained a majority. After Democrats took over the control of the Senate in June 2001 Thurmond became first honorary "president pro tempore emeritus".
Started his career as opponent of racial integration, in his later years Thurmond supported desegregation.
His longtime Senate rival, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, is on track to surpass Thurmond's record of length of senatorial service, but not chronological age in the Senate, as of June 10, 2006.
