On this Day: Strom Thurmond Ends Longest Filibuster in Senate History

Sen. Strom Thurmond, D-.S.C., prepared with cough drops, malted milk tablets and satiated by a steak dinner, took the podium at 8:54 p.m. on Aug. 28, 1957. His fellow Southern Democrats loathed the bill under debate, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which would ensure that black voters would have ready access to polling booths. Thurmond insinuated the bill was unconstitutional and tantamount to “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Yet his fellow Southern politicians had vowed earlier never to filibuster. Undeterred, Thurmond pressed on to delay voting on the proposal.

The senator reportedly had a steam bath earlier in the evening to rid his body of excess liquids so he would not need to use the restroom during his planned speech. Thurmond’s staff was reportedly unaware of his plans to monopolize the Senate floor, although his aide, Harry Dent, “knew something was up when his boss began collecting reading material to take to the floor,” wrote the Associated Press.

Reactions to his filibuster ranged from altruistic respect to outright derision. Sen. William Knowland, R-Calif., said in reaction to Thurmond’s earlier comment that his constant prattling was “cruel and unusual punishment to his colleagues,” according to the AP.

Sen. Paul Douglas, D-Ill., a vocal supporter of civil rights, handed Thurmond a glass of orange juice during the filibuster. 

But his fellow Southern Democrats were not amused and did not rally behind their colleague, as Thurmond had hoped. Sen. Herman Talmadge, D-Ga., accused Thurmond of a “grandstand” performance, writes American Heritage. In his book “Legacy To Power: Senator Russell Long of Louisiana,” Robert T. Mann writes, “Thurmond’s obstinate tactic did more than set a new record. It incurred the animosity of the southern senators who believed they had chosen the prudent course while Thurmond betrayed them.”

In the end, Thurmond persuaded no senators to change their vote on the bill. He departed the Senate chamber at 9:12 p.m. on Aug. 29, 1957. Thurmond’s 24 hours, 18 minutes on the floor broke the previous filibuster record of 22 hours and 26 minutes, held by Sen. Wayne Morse, D-Ore., since 1953.

Two hours later, a watered-down version of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed the Senate in a 62-15 vote; however, Joshua Zeitz of American Heritage writes that it ultimately “proved an ineffective safeguard of black voting rights,” and that the 1965 Voting Rights Act made a more lasting impact in terms of minority enfranchisement.

The filibuster—speaking at lengths to delay voting on a bill—became a popular way to block a Senate vote on a bill in the 1850s, according to the Senate’s official Web site. At first, the House of Representatives had the right to filibuster but as Congress grew, it was phased out. The smaller Senate, already fixed at two representatives per state, allowed for unfettered speech.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson pushed Senate to institute “cloture,” which allows the legislative body to end a filibuster with a two-thirds majority vote. This was lowered to three-fifths of the Senate, or 60 votes, in 1975.

Cloture was first used in 1919 to close a filibuster against the Treaty of Versailles. The rule was also invoked to end Southern senators’ 57 days of speaking out to hold up voting on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

But “No longer does a senator hold the floor in long, impassioned debate,” writes Washington Monthly. Now, senators file their filibusters with their political party, which partially handles the procedure for the legislator.

Strom Thurmond graduated from Clemson College, today Clemson University, in 1923 with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture. He worked as a farmer and teacher in his hometown of Edgefield, S.C., before becoming his county’s school superintendent in 1929. He studied law from his father, a judge, and passed the bar in 1930. Originally a Democrat as part of the “Solid South,” Thurmond represented Edgefield in the South Carolina state Senate from 1933 until he was named as a circuit judge.

He stepped down from his position to serve in World War II. His service included fighting during the Battle of Normandy, and he became a lieutenant colonel. In 1946, he was elected governor of South Carolina. He was a staunch defender of South Carolina’s Jim Crow laws. In defiance of the civil rights plank President Harry S. Truman introduced into the Democratic Party, notably the desegregation of the military in 1948, Thurmond and several other southern politicians walked out of the Democratic National Convention. They joined to form the States’ Rights Democratic Party, or “Dixiecrats.” Thurmond ran for president on that party’s ticket in 1948, winning 39 electoral votes and carrying four states. He lost the election to Truman and two years later, lost his Senate seat.

In the 1954 presidential election, his endorsement of Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower over Democratic contender Adlai Stevenson resulted in the Democrats blocking him from nomination for a South Carolina senate seat; however Thurmond was elected as a write-in candidate. In 1964 he changed his party affiliation to Republican over a disagreement with the Dems’ push for civil rights.

He would represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate through 2002, retiring at the age of 100. At the time, he was the longest-serving senator in history. Fellow former segregationist Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.V., has since eclipsed his record. The South Carolina Senator eventually renounced his segregationist views, although he never formally apologized for his 1948 presidential bid. Jack Bass, the author of Thurmond biography “Ol’ Strom,” said in a 2001 interview cited by CNN, “I think he is embarrassed by it.”

Thurmond was also known for his ways with women. After his death, the Thurmond family revealed that the senator had fathered an illegitimate child, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, with a black maid when he was in his 20s. Thurmond financially supported Washington-Williams and met with her several times.