Before being chosen to serve in the South Carolina state senate in 1932, James Strom Thurmond worked as a city and county attorney. Thurmond fought in the military in the Pacific and European theaters of World War II, where he took part in the D-Day assault of Normandy and was awarded the Purple Heart. From 1947 to 1951, he was governor of South Carolina. Thurmond was a write-in candidate who was elected to the Senate. But did you know that Thurmond resigned six months before his death?
Strom Thurmond Resigned from the Senate 6 months before his death. He reached his 100th birthday.
Who is Strom Thurmond?
James Strom Thurmond was born in Edgefield, South Carolina, on December 5, 1902. His father was a prosecutor and lawyer with a strong interest in local politics. After graduating from Clemson University in 1923, Thurmond served as a teacher and athletic coach in nearby schools.
Thurmond became Edgefield County’s director of education in 1929. After receiving legal training from his father and being admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1930, he started working as a county attorney. Thurmond was getting interested in politics at the same time, and in 1932 he was elected to the office of state senator, which he held until 1938.
Thurmond was named a state circuit judge after his term as a state senator expired. He worked there until 1942 when he enlisted in the American military. During World War II, Thurmond served in the Army’s civil affairs division, tasked with establishing political structures in recently freed areas. Thurmond held a challenging job; on D-Day, he used a glider to land in Normandy and participated in combat, where he captured German men.
Thurmond resumed his political career in South Carolina after the war. In 1947, he ran for state governor, touting his status as a war hero. (Source: Thought Co)
The Washington-Thurmond Controversy
Essie-Mae Washington-Williams confirmed that she was Thurmond’s daughter a few months after Thurmond passed away. Carrie Butler, an African-American lady who worked as a domestic helper at the Thurmond family home when she was 16 years old, was the mother of Washington-Williams.
The 22-year-old Thurmond had fathered a child with Butler at that time. Washington-Williams, raised by an aunt, didn’t find out who her biological parents were until she was a teenager.
Thurmond supported his daughter’s schooling financially and occasionally had Washington-Williams drop by his office in Washington, DC, even though he never acknowledged his daughter in public. There was uproar when it was revealed that one of the most fervent segregationists in the South had a mixed daughter. Jesse Jackson, a prominent civil rights activist, told the New York Times that he never worked to give his daughter first-class status. He battled for legislation that kept his daughter segregated and in an inferior position.
As a new conservative bloc emerged inside the Democratic Party, Thurmond led the migration of southern Democrats to the Republican Party. In the end, he left a legacy through his racist policies and the restructuring of the two main political parties in the United States. (Source: Thought Co)
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