Strom Thurmond

James Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to April 1956 and November 1956 to 1964 as a Democrat and from 1964 to 2003 as a Republican. He served as Senator through his 90s, and left office at age 100, as the longest-serving senator ever.

Trivia

• Was 41 years old when he fought at the Battle of Normandy
• One of the few contemporary politicians to have received the votes of American Civil War veterans
• Intervened in 1971 when Reverend Sun Myung Moon had trouble entering the United States
• Was a Senate colleague of Prescott Bush - the father of U.S. President George H. W. Bush and grandfather of U.S. President George W. Bush
• Married his last wife, Nancy Janice Moore, in 1968 when he was already 66 years old, and she only 23. It is often said that he ran for president before she was born; this is false, however he was old enough to be eligible. They separated in 1991.
• Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson, in their 1998 biography, Ol' Strom, reported that Thurmond's first child was Essie Mae Washington-Williams, born in 1925. Her mother was a black servant named Carrie "Tunch" Butler. On December 15, 2003, an attorney for Thurmond's family confirmed that Thurmond had indeed been the father of Ms. Washington-Williams.
• Fathered his first "legitimate" child in 1971, and his last in 1976 when he was 73 years old
• Became a grandfather publicly for the first time on June 17, 2003, just nine days before his death. He first became a grandfather privately decades earlier when Ms. Washington-Williams had her first child.
• Ronald Williams, son of Essie Mae Washington-Williams, claims that he was a registered Republican before Strom Thurmond was.
• A reservoir on the Georgia-South Carolina border is named after him (See: Lake Strom Thurmond).
• Thurmond will hold the record for the longest serving senator for at least a while. He is likely to be passed by Robert Byrd should he win reelection in 2006 and serve out a full term.