Strom Thurmond's America

by Joseph Crespino

"Do not forget that ‘skill and integrity' are the keys to success." This was the last piece of advice on a list Will Thurmond gave his son Strom in 1923. The younger Thurmond would keep the words in mind throughout his long and colorful career as one of the South's last race-baiting demagogues and as a national power broker who, along with Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, was a major figure in modern conservative politics.

But as the historian Joseph Crespino demonstrates in Strom Thurmond's America, the late South Carolina senator followed only part of his father's counsel. Political skill was the key to Thurmond's many successes; a consummate opportunist, he had less use for integrity. He was a thoroughgoing racist—he is best remembered today for his twenty-four-hour filibuster in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957—but he fathered an illegitimate black daughter whose existence he did not publicly acknowledge during his lifetime. A onetime Democrat and labor supporter, he switched parties in 1964 and helped to dismantle New Deal protections for working Americans.

If Thurmond was a great hypocrite, though, he was also an innovator who saw the future of conservative politics before just about anyone else. As early as the 1950s, he began to forge alliances with Christian Right activists, and he eagerly took up the causes of big business, military spending, and anticommunism. Crespino's adroit, lucid portrait reveals that Thurmond was, in fact, both a segregationist and a Sunbelt conservative. The implications of this insight are vast. Thurmond was not a curiosity from a bygone era, but rather one of the first conservative Republicans we would recognize as such today. Strom Thurmond's America is about how he made his brand of politics central to American life.

Genres: History, Biography, Politics, Nonfiction, American History

416 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2012

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

This work is only a half-biography of the segregationist Democrat-turned-Republican elder statesman. The other half examines Thurmond's impact on American politics, eg. channeling racism into concerns about welfare and nebulously defined "law and order." Like many politicians, Thurmond's an interesting character for his contradictions: a racist who fathered a black child, an avid New Dealer who became a conservative icon. But Crespino proves superficial in exploring his broader cultural impact. Of all of that era's prominent conservatives, what makes Thurmond more important than, say, George Wallace or Barry Goldwater (or Richard Nixon for that matter)? True he hit the scene first, but during his '48 presidential run Thurmond was a straightforward segregationist. Presumably his 1964 defection to the GOP is the point of entry, after which he at least toned down his rhetoric. Either way, not as interesting as other recent volumes by Perlstein, Kabaservice, etc.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book that discussed the long career of Strom Thurmond. My assessment of this man is that he was a scoundrel of epic proportion!

[Blaine Welgraven · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Sunbelt devotees had come in droves. The 1960s marked the first time since the 1870s that more people moved into the South than out of it."

--Joseph Crespino, Strom Thurmond's America

A well-written work enriched by its subject's longevity, Strom Thurmond's America covers an American century filled with significant political developments and social upheaval. Crespino's work is ostensibly Thurmond's biography; however, thanks to Thurmond's durability America also works as a significant political primer on the major issues, rulings, and congressional acts of the 20th century. Crespino's work seems to have two overarching theses:

1. Thurmond's role as "one of the first post-World War II Sunbelt conservatives" has been significantly misunderstood, "eclipsed by his racial politics." Lest there be any misunderstanding, Crespino clarifies, "To be clear, Thurmond was a thoroughgoing racist who, despite some relatively progressive positions early in his career, stoked white reaction and submitted to the new politics of race only when the political consequences of doing otherwise had become obvious." But that's the point argues Crespino. Thurmond did change, regardless of the (probably calculated) reasons, and managed from 1940-1970 to be both solidly anti-integration and anti-civil rights even as he grew into a key figure in the Sunbelt Conservative movement. Crespino builds on this thesis, arguing that the dichotomy between Sunbelt Conservatism ("modern, principled, and broadly ideological") and southern conservatism ("backward and racist") is overstated. The interpretative mistake that results from this rigid division is to view southern conservatism through a lens where race alone predominates, entirely dismissing "Southerners' Cold War anticommunism, antilabor politics, conservative religious beliefs, and opposition to liberal church groups." These were sincerely held beliefs that had real impact, argues Crespino, and without appreciating their proper role in the southern conservative movement, one will only achieve "a flattened portrait of a southern conservative like Thurmond."

2. Thurmond's personal view of himself as "a national--if not international figure" within the Sunbelt Conservative movement is largely correct and significantly underappreciated. "The foundational figures were Goldwater and Reagan, as everyone knows" notes Crespino, "yet in 1948...Thurmond was a presidential candidate denouncing federal meddling in private business, the growing socialist impulse in American politics, and the dangers of statism, themes that would dominate the post-war conservative movement."

Judging from the divergent responses to Crespino's work (e.g., compare the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reviews), Crespino's largely restrained theses may not be as evident as he would like. I personally found his attempts to portray Thurmond as a mover within Sunbelt Conservatism far from convincing; rather, Crespino's meticulous research and emphasis on "Ol Strom's" calculative political acumen more often seems to reveal an active, alert southern stalwart being moved by changing political winds. As for Crespino's attempts to more closely integrate and link Sunbelt Conservatism to Southern conservatism, I'd refer the interested reader to Sean Trende's excellent 2010 work on the infamous "southern realignment". Trende supports his electoral history with rigorous mathematical analysis, lending a statistical veracity to his arguments that Crespino's assertions don’t always possess (at one point, the Crespino summarizes the 1968 election by noting that "over 61 million Americans...had voted for either Nixon or George Wallace," about 20 million wide of the actual mark).

Trende's article can be found here: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/art...

[James Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

The value of this book lies in Crespino's linkage of Strom Thurmond's racism to his classism. Opposed to racial equality and justice, Thurmond also denounced labor unions, worker protection and safety legislation, and Great Society programs, while never failing to advocate for military spending, big business subsidies, and deregulation. In his role as precursor to post-war conservatism, Thurmond paved the way for Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, the Bushes, and diminution of American liberalism. Crespino's book is well written and well argued. I highly recommend it.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I "won" this book in a Goodreads Giveaway back in 2013. The book rested undisturbed on my TBR shelf until now. It is a 3.5 star read that I'm rounding down because the epilogue is a bit too heavy-handed.

This book is not a biography per se. It does provide some basic facts about Thurmond's personal life but its focus is on the political environment of the times when Thurmond was an active participant in Southern and US politics. The book posits that Thurmond was a mover and shaker in the South's movement from a Democratic stronghold to a Republican stronghold and joining with the conservatism of the Southwest.

Thurmond was the Democrat governor of South Carolina (1946 to 1950) (limited to one term by the state's constitution), the Dixiecrat presidential candidate in 1948, and a Democrat and Republican US Senator (he switched in the middle of a term and declined to resign) for forever (he turned 100 while serving his last term). Thurmond was a segregationist, a states righter, and very pro-business. But, at a certain point, he realized that to keep winning election, he had to get a certain percentage of Black votes. One of his ways to do this was be less of a segregationist. He hired a Black staffer for his office and turned from opposing school integration to opposing bussing. He had a daughter with a Black woman that he never acknowledged during his lifetime but for whom he provided financial support over the years, including funds to attend college. She did not reveal he was her father until after he died (she was 77 at the time) and his other children did not deny he was her father. She refused, despite encouragement from interviewers, to say anything negative about Thurmond.

There is a lot of interesting and intriguing information in the book, including Thurmond's links to the presidential campaigns and presidencies of Nixon and Reagan and the campaign of Barry Goldwater. Thurmond's goal once elected to the US Senate seems to have been to remain a Senator and have power as a Senator, something he managed quite well until age and dementia slowed him down. When he assumed the role of Senate President pro tempore, he created the very first seal for the office and put it on key chains that he gave out to everyone. Early on, he was quite the ramble rouser, who gave his party leaders conniptions. The biggest example of this being his one-person, 24-hour filibuster of the 1957 Civil Rights bill.

Thurmond moved away from being a New Deal Democrat when he became pro-business. He opposed labor unions and other measures that would make South Carolina less attractive to businesses. Certain business leaders were able to get his attention whenever they wanted, even when, as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was holding hearings on a Supreme Court nominee.

This book fit nicely with an earlier read this month of His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life in providing viewpoints of the South from different perspectives in a similar timeframe. Reading the author's Introduction is essential to understanding what he was trying to do with this book. He was not completely successful but the book is worth reading.

[Duzclues · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I have read this year, and one of the best I have ever read. Strom Thurmond is a repugnant character in American history, one does not have to read this book to know that. But what goes unrealized, as Crespino argues extremely effectively in this volume, is that Thurmond’s tangible legacy is not that of a relic of a backwards American south from the distant past, but rather somebody who has played a fundamental role in creating our mainstream political world today. Not the fringes, the mainstream. It is both startling and illuminating to learn just how big a role this nearly universally despised figure in American history has had more of an impact on *our* world of today than his world of the 50s and 60s. Indeed, this book acts as a pair of glasses, through which you can see the roots of the rhetoric and policies so prevalent in current politics and seemingly so mundane— the most loathsome segregationist of the mid 20th century. The present is much more like the dark chapters of our past than we wish it to be.

Read this book. It’s well written, its well argued, it’s a pretty quick read, and it will change the way you look at both contemporary and historical politics. Two thumbs up.

[Andrew Figueiredo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book on a loathsome and longstanding figure in American political life. Crespino argues that Thurmond represented not just the old South, evident in his Dixiecrat campaign, but more importantly, the South's turn towards the Republican Party and anti-union Sunbelt conservatism. It's an interesting thesis, and one backed up quite convincingly. Thurmond would not have remained so prominent for so long had he not at least somewhat adapted to the times, but his transformation along these lines maintained hints of the old prejudices.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really appreciated this book for how it incorporated the physical, for lack of a better word, motivating Thurmond— his precious, needy masculinity that I saw as an extension of his Lost Cause southern gentleman persona; that he worked hard to cultivate an image of himself as a fatherly shepherd taking the lives of Black Americans into his hands to do what was best for them. This book did well in showing how his condescension and paternalism stemmed not from a warped tolerance or goodwill, but for the sake of appearing well respectable enough to draw in investments to South Carolina and to build national connections that he would otherwise be unable to.


One extension of that masculinity subject that I think tied in well with the broader narrative following the old south conservative movement swirling around Thurmond colliding with the national conservatism orbiting around Goldwater, Nixon, and multiple unnamed millionaires financiers ultimately colliding and exploding into a new synthesis, was the issue of the Panama Canal.

George McGovern had a wonderful insight into the canal issue that parted the clouds of the debate and made it clear what it was really all about, “I have read some of the mail that has come in to my office from all over the country saying, ‘Why can't we stand up to Panama?’ As though somehow our manhood, our patriotism as a nation, was under attack in these treaties. I do not think anybody is so foolish as to think the United States is going to impress either ourselves or anybody else simply by showing that we have the power to stand up to Panama. Of course, we do. The power and greatness of this country are not measured by how we flex our muscles toward a little country like Panama, but whether or not we are true to the ideals of self-determination, dignity, and justice that have brought this country to a position of power, influence, and greatness in the world.”

McGovern and Crespino articulate the origin of the conservative movement by breaking it down to its most fundamental principle: that countries are men, and carry the insecurities and strengths, the ambitions and hesitations, and above all the inferiorities of men. Thurmond’s life is a prime example of this. He never shied away from his hate, there was never a stunt to public or grandiose for him. In fact, he lived for stuns and displays of vitality. Yet, for all his headstands and midnight runs, Thurmond reserved no strength for his shame. He kept no bravery to confront the consequences and criticism of his child.


Likewise, Crespino’s final chapter resonated me for many of these same reasons. It highlighted to me the idea fostered in the south by Confederate sympathizers of the ideal slave— a silent caretaker, never to raise a compliant and content to accept the way things were. I think this says a lot about Thurmond more than it does about the idealized slave. Thurmond, and others like him, also, I think, desired to remain willfully contented with the past. They no longer wanted to return to that old order, but wanted the world to just accept it and move on, without having to atone or reckon with it. The Confederate descendants’ ideal Yankee was one who didn’t dredge up the past, or force the people of the south to confront their history, and moved on to issues of the present. This collective digging of heads in the sand is apparent to me in Thurmond’s unrepentant freedom after elbowing his way out of the trappings of the south and his emergence as a nationally respected conservative leader.

It seems clear to me, that perhaps within Thurmond and the greater conservative movement at large, is a desire to appear strong to distract- in focusing on foreign affairs, from their own short comings. These big stunts are minuscule because they are meaningless. I got the impression that the respected Ol’ Strom was not anymore meaningful to the black population of South Carolina than the showboater, and that does account for his hiring of black staffers and his surface level service of his African American constituents. It doesn’t mean anything because it isn’t anything. It’s a headlong distraction to prevent personal, regional, and national reckoning with the history of slavery and segregation.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although largely forgotten today, mostly obscured behind the layers of his reputation as rabid segregationist, James Strom Thurmond, in my opinion, counts among America's most influential politicians. Beginning his career as a progressive, New-Deal-supporting Democrat hailing from Southern Carolina, he entered the senate as a dour, humourless, racist maverick who rarely toed the Democratic Party line, especially as the party veered towards supporting racial equality and civil rights, the high point of his struggle making a quixotic effort to block the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1957 by way of filibustering. His 24 hours, 18 minutes speech still stands until now as the longest speaking filibuster by a lone senator. Allying himself with big business against labor interests, betraying his earlier progressive background, Thurmond became one of the motors of economic growth in American South, preceding the rise of Sunbelt conservatives, which would dominate the American Politics in times of Ronald Reagan's later presidency. While the Democratic Party continued its steady march to the left, the segregationist south, Thurmond included, were undoubtedly left behind. They were picked by Richard Nixon, and his southern strategy in 1964 to capture the disaffected southern white voters, and Thurmond became the highest profile defector since Ronald Reagan joined the Republican Party.

As Vietnam War raged on, Thurmond, and other white segregationists within the congress, saw the futility of nakedly defending white supremacism, thus shifting their rhetorics toward muscular support of Vietnam War, Busing issue, and also suspicions toward civil rights movements, which, in their beliefs, were infested with communists. By successfully shifting from racial segregationist into advocate of law and order, Thurmond ensured his political longevity. While he got older, he also succeeded in changing his public persona, from a dour, humorless, uncompromising defender of white supremacism into a nice, sweet, if rather quirky, southern old gentleman who is always able find compromise to every problem, The Ol' Strom. Other important issue discussed is his secret guardianship of his black daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, Thurmond doing the double act of bashing african-americans in public while covertly supporting Essie Mae with steady financial support, a sure-fire career killer. While Strom never stated his reason, indeed the secret was only revealed after his death, the act served as the proof of existence of Strom's humane side, while revealing the cruel reality of segregationist politics of which Strom was one of its greatest players.

In the end, while the book is critical to Strom, especially in his defense of white supremacism and racial segregation, it also acknowledge his political savviness, which became the recipe for his political longevity. A highly recommended book.

[Harry Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great book that doesn't use overly complex language or overstay its welcome while making a powerful and convincing argument. It functions not just as a good biography of Thurmond (though not as in depth as books that are solely committed to covering his every move), but to expand our perception of him as a political actor. It demonstrates his skillful political maneuvering after the 1960s, and his important role in enabling and shaping the next generation of right wing thinkers.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful perspective on the forces that shaped our current politics. Lots of interesting detail about votes and alliances, but I would have appreciated a bit more digging into Thurmond's personal life, the contradictions of which seems critical to understanding the full dimensions and agonies of Strom Thurmond's America, and our own, through his legacy.

[Thomas Kanyak · Rating 4 out of 5]

How the party of Lincoln became the party of Strom Thurmond.

[Conor · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful look into the life of someone who was at the forefront of the emergence of the conservative Republican Party of the late 20th century

[Austin Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cover to cover - excellent model of critical biography. Readable, relevant, and thorough.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was born and raised in reliably Republican Indiana, yet when I reached the Age of Reason, I left the fold and became, gasp, a liberal Democrat. I wasn't disowned, since my parents were moderate Republicans and very understanding.

Add to that the fact that I was the first group of 18 year olds to be able to vote and that I voted AGAINST Richard Nixon and you have my political profile.

While politics is not all-consuming to me, this fall I spent a lot of hours campaigning for a candidate. And I always follow the political debates in the newspapers.

I find reading about political figures fascinating. I have followed all of Caro's biographical volumes on LBJ, of course read the requisite biographies of Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, branched out into Harry Truman, the Roosevelt boys and so on. So when I read a review of Strom Thurmond's America, I decided I had to read it.

You should too. Crespino avoids the typical biographical or political writer's wonky word bogs and creates an incredibly readable prose. Imagine me, a liberal, hanging on every word written in here. Strom Thurmond was not only a mover and shaker in the middle 20th century, the areas he moved and shook are just as fascinating.

As we saw in this past election, the South is pretty reliably Republican now and African Americans mostly support the Democrats. Yet neither of these was true before 1950. Thurmmond began his career as a Democrat and began moving to the racist edge instead of remaining moderate. He switched parties after Barry Goldwater's nomination since the Republican party at that time was so conservative it backed ideas such as segregation and "states' rights." It was during this time period (also the period when the major civil rights acts were passed - under a Democratic president) that the shifts began. As the Republicans became less moderate and more racist, blacks left the party of Lincoln for the party of FDR. At the same time, moderate Republicans were moving to the South as a result of increased industrial buildup. Eventually, voila! The Republicans became the party of the South (and mostly converted to the more radical version)and African Americans became stalwarts of the Democratic Party.

It's little things like this - the political developments that have shaped how our America changes - that make political biographies fascinating to me. Thurmond is a fascinating man who infuenced a great deal of the 20th century. Not to mention the fact that he fathered a mixed race child when he was in his early 20's.

You tell me how a Southern Segregationist could carry THAT political bombshell to his grave!

[Gatlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography of Ol' Strom. It's not black and white or hagiography. One thinks of his strict segregation beliefs and reactionary politics and his biracial daughter, but Strom was once a New Dealer and a huge supporter of Roosevelt, i.e., Big government. This changed after WWII; starting with the armed forces the U.S. slowly began integrating. Crespino's argument is that Strom is not some symbol from a bygone era; he is one of the founders of the New Right whose politicians share Strom's political beliefs to this day, however, I do feel Strom had better manners. I've read before that some of the nicest people have the meanest political beliefs, hence the harshness and heartlessness of many southern GOP white male politicians, but all Sunday school graciousness on the outside.

The modern GOP was created because of race; integration was the motivation behind the hatred of Big Government: the government telling whites they had to go to school with blacks. Southern Democrats like Thurmond switched over to the Republicans in 1964 creating the new far right GOP. In South Carolina the Republican party has the strength Democrats had over half a century ago.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biographical part of Crespino's book is fair-to-middling and lacks many of the details that makes a very good-to-excellent biography make you feel like you are actually living with the subject ... not that I would have ever wanted to live with Thurmond, but ...
However, what makes this book a fine read is Crespino's analysis of Thurmond's pioneering role in the pro-business/anti-labor/fundamentalist Christian/anti-everyone-but-white-men attitudes that have become the mantra of one of the two major parties in the U.S. In Crespino's narrative, "Ol' Strom" was the living embodiment of the GOP's Southern Strategy and the essential link between Goldwater and Reagan. Moveover, Crespino makes a fairly convincing argument that Thurmond lives today in the Southerners who have so much influence in the Repub party.

[Arbogast Holmskragga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, even when dealing with the obvious bias of the writer. Ending a paragraph with phrases such as "It is obvious that..." or "And like others..." when the proof of the assertions to come is contained in neither the previous paragraphs or the sentences to come just shows that the author expects to be taken as gospel.

However, when dealing with the purely factual, this book is compelling, well-researched, and an excellent reminder that Evil does not come in the form of the mustache-twirling villain dressed in black, but shows up often as that person "just like you" or in those who choose to sit on the sidelines and not get involved.

[Walt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Crespino writes very well in a very readable style, making his subject come to life. I learned a great deal about Strom Thurmond and the time and place in which he lived. The book has given me a better understanding of the modern South and of the Republican Party as it was reconstituted as a southern political institution. I did not gain any greater sympathy for Thurmond or his southern colleagues, but I have a greater insight into the current state of politics in America.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thurmond was not a good man, and the author doesn't let him off the hook for his sins. This is a man who was vehemently opposed to Civil rights, yet secretly fathered a child with an African-American woman. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Southern politics and history, race relations in the American South, or the development of the political Right in the 20th century.

(Note: I won this book from a goodreads giveaway contest.)

[Hillary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for my Recent America history class about politics. I remember Strom m from 2003, after he died, when the rumors were finally confirmed that he had a black daughter. That was 13 years ago. I aslo recently heard of the Strom Thurmond's rule about supreme court appointments. This book is good but I still can't stand him as a person for the stuff he said and supported during the 20th century.

[Jack Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read of an interesting person.

I am a South Carolinian and worked as an intern for Senator Thurmond in 1966. I was far distant from him on my politics, but I learned that he was a good man. Like all of us, not without flaws, but his good qualities outweighed his bad and that's as much as most of us can hope for.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Like anyone, Crespino has a political slant, and I think it causes him to overreach at times, but this is still helpful in understanding Thurmond's role in 20th century American politics. Well-written, too.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me good insight to Strom and politics of South Carolina over the last 70 years or so. Being a new resident to the Palmetto State, his telling of Strom's story helped me understand a great deal of today's political environment not only in SC, but throughout the South.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect if you want to read every single detail of the man's political career.

[Jon D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough and insightful. I would have liked to see some kind of overarching analysis or summary.

[Ben Machen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent books about an important time in the South. The beginnings are before my time but I definitely remember the later years.

[Jon Taber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through goodreads. It's a very informative book on Strom, and a good reminder of how racist much of the country was not so long ago.

[Geoffrey Kabaservice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reviewed this book for The New Republic in September 2012:

http://www.newrepublic.com/book/revie...

[Andrea Miskewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written - I learned a lot about this controversial figure in American history.

I just prefer fiction