Hollings, 82, will leave the Senate next month after 38 years in office and with a long record of legislative achievements. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., lauded his longtime colleague as a man who offered "new thinking" and wasn't afraid to criticize friend or foe.

"He has done the one thing that is in short supply," Biden said. "He has been candid."

Known as the guy who talked funny but handsome, Hollings had a way of knowing what had to be said and how to say it, Biden said. "That's leadership, folks." Biden spoke to a group of politicians, lawyers, and business and civic leaders at the 2004 Global Vision Award Gala, a World Affairs Council event.

Hollings pushed for better jobs and education in South Carolina, but he also understood how to help all Americans, Biden said.

Because of Hollings "radical" ideas, poor mothers and older Americans have resources to thrive.

"When Fritz came to the Senate, the poorest Americans were the elderly," Biden said. "Today, they are not."

Among the acts he sponsored were those initiating the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program and he helped found the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Some of the new members of the Senate have no notion of what Fritz has done," Biden said.

Hollings graduated from The Citadel, served in combat in World War II, earned a law degree and entered the state Legislature in 1948. He was elected governor in 1958 and is credited with leading his state peacefully into the age of integration.

He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1984 and has the distinction of being the longest-serving junior senator in history.

He finally became his state's senior senator last year when the late Strom Thurmond retired at age 100.

Hollings took the opportunity to chide the state's political leaders who say taxes are holding back economic growth in the state and also those who support a plan to give parents more school choice by using public dollars to pay for private schools.

"Don't listen to this nonsense," Hollings said. "Today we've got 316 white-flight institutions and they want us to finance them. Give me a break."

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