Strom Thurmond

Strom Thurmond's Political Career: Strom Thurmond served as governor of South Carolina and later, as a United States Senator representing that state from 1954 to 2003 - first as a Democrat, and later, on September 16, 1964, as he was increasingly at odds with the national Democratic party over racial integration, switching his party affiliation to become a Republican.

He also made a run for the presidency in 1948 under the Dixiecrat Party - a segregationist States Rights Democratic Party banner, which had split from the Democrats over the issue of segregation; his primary campaign platform was the perpetuation of segregation.

Strom Thurmond on Segregation: In one 1948 speech Strom Thurmond said: "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 [or perhaps "negro"] race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches."

Strom Thurmond's Hypocrisy: After Strom Thurmond's death, Essie Mae Washington-Williams came forward, announcing that she was his daughter; Essie Mae Washington-Williams is Black. The Thurmond family publicly acknowledged her parentage and many close friends and staff members also acknowledged that they had long suspected this to have been the case. Thurmond, they said, had always taken a great amount of interest in Washington-Williams. They also noted that she was granted a degree of access to the Senator generally reserved for family members.

Strom Thurmond's Descendants: Strom Thurmond fathered his first legitimate child at the age of 68. His four children are: Nancy Moore (1971–1993), who was killed in a traffic accident; James Strom, Jr. (1972– ); Juliana Gertrude (1974– ); and Paul Reynolds (1976– ). He became a grandfather (publicly) on June 17, 2003, just nine days before his death, although he first became a grandfather (privately) decades earlier when Essie Mae Washington-Williams gave birth to her first child.

In Strom Thurmond's Name: Carrying his namesake are the following:

• A reservoir - Lake Strom Thurmond - on the Georgia–South Carolina border.
• A fitness center at the University of South Carolina.
• A building, which houses the school's business offices, bookstore, and post office, at Charleston Southern University.
• A building at Winthrop University.
• A statue, which is located on the grounds of the South Carolina State Capitol building, erected as a memorial to his service.
• A high school, which is located in his hometown of Edgefield, South Carolina.
• A C-17 Globemaster, owned by the U.S. Air Force and named "The Spirit of Strom Thurmond."

Did Strom Thurmond Change His Heart or His Politics?: Although Strom Thurmond later moderated his views on race, he continued to defend his early segregationist campaigns and refused to apologize to the African-American community.

However, in what some will attribute to a change of heart - others to a change in his politics - he endorsed racial integration in the 1970s, hired African-American staffers, supported blacks for federal judgeships, and enrolled his white daughter in an integrated public school. He would also come to support extension of the Voting Rights Act as well as making the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. a federal holiday.

More About Essie Mae Washington-Williams: Strom Thurmond, at 22, reputedly had an extended relationship with a black house servant named Essie "Tunch" Butler, age 16, and in 1925, sired a daughter; she did not meet Thurmond until 1941, when she was 16.

Few knew that his "anti-pool-mixing" platform existed despite the Thurmond integrated gene pool, or that his desire to spare the South from "mongrelization" was articulated by a man guilty of giving life to a bi-racial child. Although Strom Thurmond did not publicly acknowledge his bi-racial daughter, he did allegedly provide her with money and support her attendance at a black South Carolina college while he was governor of the state.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams kept her mixed-race ancestry secret for decades out of respect for her father. "I was sensitive about his well-being and career and his family here in South Carolina." After his death, and her announcement, which came at the urging of her children, she emphasized that she was not angry or bitter. She also had no plans to ask the Thurmond estate for any money. "In fact, there's a great sense of peace that has come over me in the past year," she said. "Once I decided that I would no longer harbor such a great secret that many others knew, I feel as though a tremendous weight has been lifted."

In her memoir, Dear Senator, Essie Mae reveals her close, yet secret, relationship with the late South Carolina senator.