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Strom Thurmond And The Politics Of Southern Change
Tells the civil rights story from a white perspective through a chronicle of the life and ideological evolution of the South's most provocative and colorful senator, who grew from a white supremacist into an elder statesman respected by black leaders. 15,000 first printing.
576 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 11, 2020
Like it or not J. Strom Thurmond had a great deal of influence on our political system in the 20th century. This book by Nadine Cohodas explains how that happened. In fact it happened twice.
Oddly enough Thurmond saw himself as fighting a losing fight against the century. He was born in
1902 to a prosperous planter family in Edgefield, South Carolina. Strom's father was a close personal
friend of Ben Tillman, the notorious racist populist who was South Carolina's most prominent political official post Civil War. It was Tillman who perfected the art of race baiting to keep getting
elected.
Thurmond saw himself as heir to the tradition of racial segregation. Not that he was a racist himself
mind you, but racial separation was a way of life in his region and no individual or government was
going to say otherwise.
Thurmond graduated Clemson College and during the 30s was elected first to the South Carolina
State Senate and then to a judgeship. He resigned said judicial office for military service in World
War 2 and was at D-Day. That is what got him elected governor in 1946.
Post WW2 America saw the first beginnings of the civil rights era and the Democratic party was an
arena in which the issues were raised. The Democrats internal struggle was played out at their
1948 convention where lots of southern delegates walked out. They coalesced around the presidential candidacy of Governor Thurmond and his running mate Governor Fielding Wright from
Mississippi.
The idea was simple, carry a few southern states and hope the electoral college was deadlocked so
that a deal could be made to keep segregation in place. It didn't work, but Strom Thurmond became the symbol of southern defiance when he carried 4 states in 1948.
Thurmond's only political defeat came in 1950 when he lost the Democratic primary for the Senate
to Olin Johnston. Johnston came from a poor white background unlike Thurmond. But he defended segregation as good as Thurmond ever did. Thurmond got to the Senate in 1954 when the other South Carolina Senator Burnett Maybank died suddenly. Thurmond stayed there for the
next half century.
He was never threatened seriously in his base after that, but in 1964 took a calculated risk by
supporting Republican Barry Goldwater for president. Republican was still a name associated with
Abraham Lincoln and the freeing of slaves. Thurmond not only did that but he became a Republican. It started a trend and as the old Dixiecrat Senators died off and retired, the party of
Abraham Lincoln became dominant in the south.
Thurmond was the only Senator serving to the age of 100 when he retired in 2003 dying a few months later. Like it or not his run in 1948 for president and his switch to the GOP in 1964 were
landmark events in our political history.
Oddly enough Thurmond saw himself as fighting a losing fight against the century. He was born in
1902 to a prosperous planter family in Edgefield, South Carolina. Strom's father was a close personal
friend of Ben Tillman, the notorious racist populist who was South Carolina's most prominent political official post Civil War. It was Tillman who perfected the art of race baiting to keep getting
elected.
Thurmond saw himself as heir to the tradition of racial segregation. Not that he was a racist himself
mind you, but racial separation was a way of life in his region and no individual or government was
going to say otherwise.
Thurmond graduated Clemson College and during the 30s was elected first to the South Carolina
State Senate and then to a judgeship. He resigned said judicial office for military service in World
War 2 and was at D-Day. That is what got him elected governor in 1946.
Post WW2 America saw the first beginnings of the civil rights era and the Democratic party was an
arena in which the issues were raised. The Democrats internal struggle was played out at their
1948 convention where lots of southern delegates walked out. They coalesced around the presidential candidacy of Governor Thurmond and his running mate Governor Fielding Wright from
Mississippi.
The idea was simple, carry a few southern states and hope the electoral college was deadlocked so
that a deal could be made to keep segregation in place. It didn't work, but Strom Thurmond became the symbol of southern defiance when he carried 4 states in 1948.
Thurmond's only political defeat came in 1950 when he lost the Democratic primary for the Senate
to Olin Johnston. Johnston came from a poor white background unlike Thurmond. But he defended segregation as good as Thurmond ever did. Thurmond got to the Senate in 1954 when the other South Carolina Senator Burnett Maybank died suddenly. Thurmond stayed there for the
next half century.
He was never threatened seriously in his base after that, but in 1964 took a calculated risk by
supporting Republican Barry Goldwater for president. Republican was still a name associated with
Abraham Lincoln and the freeing of slaves. Thurmond not only did that but he became a Republican. It started a trend and as the old Dixiecrat Senators died off and retired, the party of
Abraham Lincoln became dominant in the south.
Thurmond was the only Senator serving to the age of 100 when he retired in 2003 dying a few months later. Like it or not his run in 1948 for president and his switch to the GOP in 1964 were
landmark events in our political history.
May 26, 2023
I thought the book was pretty good. Both the start and the end of the book dragged a bit, which is why I gave it three stores rather than five stars. Then again, the opening of biographies is often slow. How interesting can you really make in infancy or early childhood in most instances? Say that he was precocious and ambitious as a youngster; this could have been said in fewer pages but that is a common ill of the genre. And maybe that is the reason I picked the book up and put it down a few times in the last five or so years since I bought it.
All the same, I learned a lot from the book about America’s 20th century in the South. At the opening of his life in 1903, the South had only recently emerged from the Civil War and Reconstruction. Obviously a natural politician, his political career started when he was a very young man, in local politics. He went on to become a county judge, and after returning from service in World War II, served a term as governor of South Carolina.
He gained national note as a third-party candidate for president in 1948. He also gained a very hard to live down reputation as a segregationist. In 1954 he was elected to the senate as the only candidate ever elected on a right-in vote. He was somewhat of a maverick, switching from the Democratic party of the “Solid South” to the Republican Party.
He was continually reelected through the time of the writing of the book, which was 1993. The book chronicles his transition from being a segregationist to someone who was able to engage with racial minorities.
Again, reading the book was enjoyable and a solid educational experience.
All the same, I learned a lot from the book about America’s 20th century in the South. At the opening of his life in 1903, the South had only recently emerged from the Civil War and Reconstruction. Obviously a natural politician, his political career started when he was a very young man, in local politics. He went on to become a county judge, and after returning from service in World War II, served a term as governor of South Carolina.
He gained national note as a third-party candidate for president in 1948. He also gained a very hard to live down reputation as a segregationist. In 1954 he was elected to the senate as the only candidate ever elected on a right-in vote. He was somewhat of a maverick, switching from the Democratic party of the “Solid South” to the Republican Party.
He was continually reelected through the time of the writing of the book, which was 1993. The book chronicles his transition from being a segregationist to someone who was able to engage with racial minorities.
Again, reading the book was enjoyable and a solid educational experience.
March 29, 2008
As a boy from Vermont, the South seems like a different world to me. I was surprised to receive this book for my birthday, but I'm glad I did. If this book has a bias, I'm sure its in favor of my own liberal poltics, but this is certainly a valuable perspective on a controversial figure, and the larger scope of US History during the transition of the South from Democratic to Republican leadership. This was written when Strom was 92 (out of 101), so it provides a fairly full portrait.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews