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Article published Jun 27, 2003
Senator known for his love of state and country

Will Rothschild
Staff Writer

In more than half a century as the state's political icon, former Sen. Strom Thurmond left an indelible impression on thousands of South Carolinians.
As Spartanburg's Barry Wynn, the former chairman of the state Republican Party, mentally flipped through his substantial file of Thurmond memories, one in particular stood out.
"A lot of us so-called well-meaning Republicans went to visit him before he ran for his last term (in 1996)," Wynn said after hearing of Thurmond's death late Thursday. "We tried to start a discussion about whether he should run again. He was 94 at the time.
"And he just leaped out of his chair and said he had much more to offer this state and many more years of service and there was no reason to give up the seat at that early age.
"That was the end of the discussion and we went on from there."
There had been some concern, Wynn said, that Thurmond would be vulnerable in that campaign, that perhaps the electorate would finally consider him too old to send back to Capitol Hill.
"But," Wynn said, "once the campaign began and he started to make the normal rounds at places like The Beacon, shaking hands and remembering people's names and people's children's names, that (concern) was quickly dispelled."
Thurmond easily beat El Close for his eighth and final term in the Senate.
But it was his love for state and country and his dedication to constituents that defined his career, Wynn and others said.
Thurmond is the example all other public servants look to because of his legacy of constituent service, said state Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney. "He was the best by far," Peeler said.
Combined with the sheer length of his political career, that dedication to constituent service likely has ensured that Thurmond's name will forever be intimately connected to South Carolina.
Few people were as close to Thurmond as retired state Chief Justice Bruce Littlejohn of Spartanburg.
Friends since 1937, Littlejohn said, the two served together in the General Assembly until Thurmond was elected governor in 1946 and Littlejohn credits Thurmond with his election as Speaker of the House in January 1947.
"He had just been elected governor and he was anxious to have a friendly speaker," Littlejohn said.
"I visited with him about a month ago," Littlejohn said. "I could tell he was weakening, but his mind was perfectly clear and we reminisced about things that happened in the Legislature 60-odd years ago."
Thurmond also was a fixture in John Russell's life.
Spartanburg's Russell, a former state senator, first met Thurmond when his father, the late Donald Russell, was governor. Thurmond and Donald Russell also served in the Senate together when Russell completed the term of Olin Johnston, who died in office.
"I met him many times when Daddy was governor, and once or twice when he (Donald Russell) was president of the University of South Carolina," Russell said. "He's just always been around.
"He was amongst us for many years, and everybody in the state either met him or was touched by him. We've lost a familiar figure and a great person."
Russell worked for Thurmond in 1981, serving as staff counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"It was a great educational experience, and it was that way because he made it that way. He took you places."
He said Thurmond once had a meeting at the White House with President Ronald Reagan, and he wanted Russell to come along. The Secret Service, however, had other ideas.
"He had me by one hand and was pulling me one way, and the Secret Service agent was pulling me the other way," Russell recalled. "He (Thurmond) won."
Both before and after losing a presidential bid in 1948, Thurmond always won. As Wynn said, after he won his first term in the Senate as a write-in candidate, most potential challengers knew they were fighting an uphill battle.
"He was more than a senator," Wynn said.
"He was," said Spartanburg businessman George Dean Johnson Jr., "a great South Carolinian and a great American."
Staff Writers Robert W. Dalton and Janet Spencer contributed to this report.
Will Rothschild can be reached at 562-7217 or will.Rothschild@shj.com.