Strom Thurmond: A Tribute

June 26, 2003 | Adam Yoshida

[adamyoshida]

Strom Thurmond: A Tribute

Former Untied States Senator Strom Thurmond died today. He was just one hundred years old. He was a solider, a lawyer, a judge, a Governor, a Presidential candidate, and the longest-serving Senator in the entire history of the United States. He was a man of honor. He was a great man. And he was a hero.

In the days to come you will hear many obituaries for Strom and, I am certain, virtually all of them will come with a ‘but.’ Yes, they will say, Senator Thurmond did this and this, but he was also once a segregationist. This will come from the same people in the media who praise Robert Byrd a man who, at about the same time then-Governor Thurmond was losing a Senate Primary because he appointed a black Doctor to a state medical board, was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. There will even be those who will denounce him, a warrior who gave three lifetimes worth of service to his country, ignoring the facts of his life.

Strom Thurmond was a patriot. More than that, he is a man who played a great role in helping to heal the country from the lingering wounds of the Civil War, and to propel it to greatness. When he was born, in December of 1902, there were still men alive who had fought with Lee at Gettysburg who were not yet fifty-five. Young Strom probably sat with many of them, and heard their stories of the lost cause, and became a Democrat. Because, in those days, every white person in the South was a Democrat.

Who ever would have thought that the white South would come to embrace the party of Lincoln? It’s one of those historical oddities that, if you predicted it just a few years earlier, would have been utterly unbelievable. Yet it happened, and it happened because of him. When, in 1964, he switched parties it was an earthquake in Southern politics. The GOP, after all, was the party of William T. Sherman, and all of the rest who had so long been reviled in the South. But the people went with him and, in doing so, they healed many of the wounds of the long-ago war.

He was a war hero himself. When Pearl Harbor came he was a Circuit Court Judge and thirty-nine years old. He didn’t have to serve or, if he did, he certainly didn’t have to serve in the front line forces. But that’s just what he did. He was a Paratrooper; at the age of forty-two he jumped with the 82nd Airborne Division at Normandy, earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. At the end of the war he was a Lieutenant Colonel. By the end of his service in the reserves he was a Major General.

And, of course, he was, at one time, a segregationist. But, unlike many others, he changed. He sent his daughter to a school with a majority black population, he voted for a Martin Luther King holiday, and he was the first Southern Senator to hire a black aide. Today, in South Carolina, he is universally revered as a Senator who served all of the people of his state: black and white, Republican and Democrat.

He is worshipped in his home state, and with good reason. Not only has he served longer than any other US Senator, but he’s served for nearly ¼ of the entire existence of the Senate. In all of those years I don’t think there’s ever been a time where he’s betrayed his principles or given less than his all in the service of both South Carolina and America. Also, unlike certain other long-serving Senators, his legacy hasn’t been to get everything in his state named after him.

Strom seems to have been that thing so terribly lacking in politics these days: a good man. He fought his battles, he did duty and, above all other things, he faithfully served his country. We need more like him today, the sort of people with the ability to change, but also the ability to stand steadfastly by his values and, always, to defend America.

We will all miss him. America will be worse off without him than it was with him. He was a man who in his life fought for life and left the air signed vivid with his honor.

Goodbye Senator, you will be sorely missed.

[lilylangtree]

Wonder if the RATS will attend the funeral services after calling on the dogs of war when Trent Lott toasted the gentleman? Hope guards are stationed outside to refuse admission to all those hypocrites.

[gridlock]

Today we are sad at his passing, but happy for his life and service to this country. Where will we find men such as this in the coming trials?

[Libertina]

Thank you sir for hanging on those last years in the Senate when you were so needed.

[jmc813]

I must commend you. That was an incredibly well written piece. I've already used facts it in some online arguments I'm having with liberals.

[NEWwoman]

Wonder if the RATS will attend the funeral services after calling on the dogs of war when Trent Lott toasted the gentleman?

That was one my first thoughts, too.

God rest his soul. Condolences for his friends and family.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Oh my....this is hard. You KNOW it's going to happen, but it hits you when it does. My prayers and condolences to his family.

Thank you for posting this.

[Texaggie79]

[ILBBACH]

Excellent post!

[Brad’s Gramma]

You have Freepmail

[Susannah]

Good tribute to Strom! Thank you, Adam.


info on KKK Byrd from www.toogoodreports.com>>>


Byrd claimed that he quit the Klan in 1942. However, on April 8, 1946, Old Sheets, the man who Democrats lovingly refer to as the "conscience of the Senate," wrote this in a letter to Klan Imperial Wizard Samuel Green of Atlanta:

"I am a former kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan in Raleigh County and the adjoining counties of the state .... The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia .... It is necessary that the order be promoted immediately and in every state of the Union. Will you please inform me as to the possibilities of rebuilding the Klan in the Realm of W. Va .... I hope that you will find it convenient to answer my letter in regards to future possibilities."

[Susannah]

you may also be interested in the following sites that expose some of the racist history of the Democrats.

http://toogoodreports.com/column/general/drake/20030511-fss.htm


http://www.calpatriot.org/february03/erasing.html

[ladyinred]

He can never be replaced. He truly lived and breathed his beliefs, and didn't back down because of polls or public opinion. To find such a man now is almost impossible.
We have suffered a great loss with his passing, and to think that those who were hoping for his death will attend his services and try to pretend they are sad is appalling.

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

Awesome tribute for an awesome man! Thanks

[ACAC]

This will tell you about our friends over at DU.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=1189&forum=DCForumID70

[SCaper]

Strom...

Though I never really knew you personally, you have made me proud to be a South Carolinian, to have graduated from your beloved Clemson, to have married an "Aiken (SC) girl" just like you, and to have involved myself in state politics where you paved the way.

You changed this state from a segregationist democratic backwater to the genteel, hospitable, optimistic and conservative southern gem it is today, where we ALL enjoy its great opportunity. Your legacy to us as coach, judge, soldier, governor and senator will never be equalled but will always endure.

I hope in some way you are seeing what I am tonight: republicans and democrats grieving together, white and black Columbia citizens saddened by the news and united in their grateful tributes, stoic news anchors delivering the announcement with quivering voices, and our flags - all of them - lowered at midnight to half staff. The critics may soon be heard again but their bleating is shrill and meaningless tonight.

Tonight South Carolina, indeed America, weeps. Tomorrow we will grieve, the next day we will remember. But as you taught us, we will again lift our eyes with renewed hope to a joyful Carolina morning that is all the more bright because of your tireless passion.

Thank you, my captain.

Godspeed.

[Aracelis]

Thank you sir for hanging on those last years in the Senate when you were so needed.

My sentiments exactly...we will miss you, Senator!

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

Augusta, Georgia, just-across-the-Savannah-River bump. I will miss ol' Strom. What a brave man he was in WWII, among mnay other accomplishments

[doosee]

Strom made his mark on history. People will be bringing up his legacy long into the future. Those of us in SC will honor him for what he did and how he conducted himself but he is in a better place now and may his soul rest in peace.