Strom Thurmond

1902 – 2003

James Strom Thurmond Sr. was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the U.S. Senate for nearly 48 years, from 1954 to 2003, and as the 1948 Dixiecrat presidential nominee made the defense of racial segregation the centerpiece of his political career. In 1957 he conducted the longest continuous filibuster ever performed by a single senator—24 hours and 18 minutes—against the Civil Rights Act, and he switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party in 1964 over the Civil Rights Act of that year. After his death his family confirmed that, as a 22-year-old, he had fathered a daughter with Carrie Butler, a 16-year-old Black domestic worker employed by his family.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM