Angie Craig: “I rise today to add in a small way to the many tributes being offered on behalf of one of our colleagues. There are…”

“I rise today to add in a small way to the many tributes being offered on behalf of one of our colleagues. There are persons lucky enough to witness history, and persons wise enough to study history. Then there are those few who are dynamic enough to make history. This week we honor someone who has made more history than most--our distinguished President pro tempore, Strom Thurmond. Strom Thurmond was born during the Presidential term of Theodore Roosevelt--probably the only other person in the 20th century to have a comparable energy level. And in the same way TR launched America on the great adventure of the 20th century, Strom Thurmond has been a real force in building up and guiding America during that century. A few of our colleagues may have been friends with Jack Kennedy; but Strom Thurmond is the one who ran against Harry Truman--and came within a hair of denying him the White House. He is the only sitting Senator today who actually was on a general election ballot as a Presidential candidate. Strom Thurmond has always been a man of the people. In 1954, when the 31-member committee that represented the political establishment of South Carolina froze him out of a special election, Strom Thurmond did what no one before or since has done--ran and won as a write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate. Strom Thurmond has always been ahead of his time, with his finger on the pulse of history.”