Congressional Directory for the 105th Congress (1997-1998), June 1997.
[Pages 261-262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    STROM THURMOND, Republican, of Aiken, SC; attorney and educator; 
committees: chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee; ranking member, 
Judiciary; senior member, Veterans' Affairs. Family: born December 5, 
1902, in Edgefield, SC; son of John William and Eleanor Gertrude (Strom) 
Thurmond; married Jean Crouch, 1947 (deceased January 6, 1960); married 
Nancy Moore, 1968; four children: Nancy Moore (deceased April 14, 1993), 
James Strom II, Juliana Gertrude, and Paul Reynolds. Education: 1923 
graduate of Clemson University; studied law at night under his father, 
admitted to South Carolina bar, 1930, and admitted to practice in all 
federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Professional career: 
teacher and athletic coach (1923-29), county superintendent of education 
(1929-33), city attorney and county attorney (1930-38), State Senator 
(1933-38), circuit judge (1938-46), Governor of South Carolina (1947-
51), serving as chairman of Southern Governors Conference (1950); 
practiced law in Edgefield, SC (1930-38) and in Aiken, SC (1951-55); 
adjunct professor of political science at Clemson University and 
distinguished lecturer at the Strom Thurmond Institute; member, 
President's Commission on Organized Crime and Commission on the 
Bicentennial of the Constitution. Military service: Reserve officer for 
36 years; while serving as judge, volunteered for active duty in World 
War II the day war was declared against Germany; served with 
Headquarters First Army (1942-46), American, European, and Pacific 
theaters; participated in Normandy invasion with 82nd Airborne Division 
and landed on D-day; awarded 5 battle stars and 18 decorations, medals, 
and awards, including the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze 
Star Medal with ``V'', Purple Heart, Belgian Order of the Crown, and 
French Croix de Guerre; major general, U.S. Army Reserves. Honors and 
awards: past national president of Reserve Officers Association (ROA) of 
the United States (1954-55); Clemson University Alumni Association 
Distinguished Service Award (1961), Clemson Medallion (1981) and Clemson 
University Athletic Hall of Fame (1983); Disabled American Veterans 
Outstanding and Unselfish Service Awards (1964 and 1981); Military Order 
of World Wars Distinguished Service Award (1964); Order of AHEPA 
Dedicated Public Service Award (1968); WIS Radio-TV (Columbia, SC) 
``South Carolinian of the Year'' (1968); 33rd degree Mason (1969); first 
president of ROA to receive ``Minuteman of the Year Award'' (1971); 
Noncommissioned Officers Association L. Mendel Rivers Award for 
Legislative Action (1971); Congressional Medal of Honor Society National 
Patriots Award (1974); The Retired Officers Association Distinguished 
Service Award (1974); Association of U.S. Army Distinguished Service 
Citation (1974); American Legion Distinguished Public Service Award 
(1975); Medal of the Knesset, Israel (1982); Distinguished Service Medal 
(1984); Military Order of the Purple Heart Congressional Award (1976); 
AMVETS Silver Helmet Congressional Award (1977); Veterans of Foreign 
Wars Dwight D. Eisenhower Service Award (1977) and Congressional Award 
(1985); Touchdown Club of Washington, DC, ``Mr. Sam'' Award for 
contributions to sports (1978); South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association 
Service Award (1980); Navy League of U.S. Meritorious Service Citation 
(1980); American Judges Association Distinguished Service Citation 
(1981); South Carolina Hall of Fame (1982); Audie Murphy Patriotism 
Award (1982); National Guard Association of United States, Harry S. 
Truman Distinguished Service Award (1982); New York Board of Trade 
``Textile Man of the Year'' (1984); Napoleon Hill Gold Medal 
Humanitarian Achievement Award (1985); Order of the Palmetto Award; 
Presidential Citizens Medal by President Ronald Reagan, 1989; 
Noncommissioned Officers Association Lifetime Legislative Achievement 
Award, 1990; Adjutants General Association of the United States, George 
Washington Freedom Award, 1991; U.S. Marshals Service America's Star 
Award, 1991; ROA; Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George 
Bush, 1992; over 20 honorary degrees; numerous Watchdog of the Treasury 
awards and Guardian of Small Business awards. International awards: 
Order of Distinguished Diplomatic Service Merit Medal, South Korea 
(1974); Order of Kim Khanh Award, Republic of Vietnam (1975); Grand 
Cross in the Order of Orange-Nassau, the Netherlands (1982); numerous 
other distinctions; U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame Medal (1994); Senior 
Army Reserve Commanders Association Hall of Fame Medal (1995). Named in 
his honor: Thurmond Hall at Winthrop College, SC (1939); Strom Thurmond 
High School, Edgefield County, SC (1961); Strom Thurmond Student Center, 
Charleston Southern University at Charleston, SC (1972); Strom Thurmond 
Federal Building, Columbia, SC (1975); The Strom Thurmond Institute of 
Government and Public Affairs at The Strom Thurmond Center for 
Excellence in Government and Public Service at Clemson University, 
Clemson, SC (1981); Strom Thurmond Chairs and Scholarships (1981), and 
Strom Thurmond Auditorium (1982) at University of South Carolina School 
of Law, Columbia, SC; life-sized statue erected on Edgefield town square 
by people of Edgefield County, SC (1984), and on streets in several 
South Carolina cities; Strom Thurmond Lake, Dam and Highway, Clarks 
Hill, SC, 1987; Strom Thurmond Mall, Columbia, SC, 1988; has endowed 52 
scholarships at 45 colleges and universities, and established the Strom

[[Page 262]]

Thurmond Foundation, which assists in educating 80 to 100 needy, worthy 
students annually; Strom Thurmond Soldier Service Center, Fort Jackson, 
Columbia, SC, 1991; Strom Thurmond Room, U.S. Capitol, 1991; Strom 
Thurmond Highway (Interstate 20 from the Georgia Line to Florence, SC), 
1992; Strom Thurmond Biomedical Research Center, Medical University of 
South Carolina, Charleston, SC (1993); Strom Thurmond National Guard 
Armory, Edgefield, SC (1994). Memberships and affiliations: Baptist; 
Shriner; South Carolina and American bar associations; numerous defense, 
veterans, civic, fraternal, and farm organizations. Political 
activities: States Rights Democratic candidate for president of the 
United States (1948), carrying four states and receiving 39 electoral 
votes; delegate to six Democratic national conventions (chairman of 
South Carolina delegation and national committeeman, 1948); switched 
from Democratic to Republican Party (September 16, 1964); delegate to 
five Republican national conventions (chairman of South Carolina 
delegation, 1984); elected to the U.S. Senate, November 2, 1954, as a 
write-in candidate (first person in U.S. history elected to a major 
office in this manner) for term ending January 3, 1961; resigned as U.S. 
Senator April 4, 1956, to place the office in a primary, pursuant to a 
promise made to the people during the 1954 campaign; renominated and 
reelected to the Senate in 1956, resuming duties on November 7, 1956; 
reelected for each succeeding term; served as president pro tempore of 
the U.S. Senate, 1981-87, and currently since 1995.


                  Office Listings                                       
http://www.senate.gov/thumond    [email protected]
                                                                        
217 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC                      
 20510-4001............................................         224-5972
  Chief of Staff.--R.J. (Duke) Short.                                   
  Executive Assistant.--Holly Richardson.                               
  Press Secretary.--Chris Kelley Cimko.                                 
Thurmond Federal Building, 18365 Assembly Street,                       
 Columbia, SC 29201....................................   (803) 765-5494
  State Director.--Warren Abernathy.                                    
Federal Building, 211 York Street NE, Aiken, SC 29801..   (803) 649-2591
Federal Building, 334 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC                    
 29501.................................................   (803) 727-4596
McMillan Federal Building, 401 West Evans Street,                       
 Florence, SC 29501....................................   (803) 662-8873