Congressional Directory for the 106th Congress (1999-2000), October 2000.
[Pages 239-240]
[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 240]]
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 senator@thurmond.senate.gov
217 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC (202) 224-5972
20510-4001............................................
Chief of Staff.--R.J. (Duke) Short.
Executive Assistant.--Holly Richardson.
Press Secretary.--John DeCrosta.
Thurmond Federal Building, 18365 Assembly Street, (803) 765-5494
Columbia, SC 29201....................................
State Director.--Warren Abernathy.
Federal Building, 211 York Street NE, Aiken, SC 29801.. (803) 649-2591
Federal Building, 334 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC (803) 727-4596
29501.................................................
McMillan Federal Building, 401 West Evans Street, (803) 662-8873
Florence, SC 29501....................................