Sen. Strom Thurmond

Former Senator from South Carolina

Elected Positions

Dates	Title	Representing
1961-2002	Senator	South Carolina
1956-1960	Senator	South Carolina
1955-1956	Senator	South Carolina

Sponsorship Analysis

Thurmond was a rank-and-file Republican according to GovTrack's own analysis of bill sponsorship from Thurmond’s time serving in the Senate.

Use this chart to compare Thurmond to other members of the Senate in the 107^th Congress on leadership and ideology.

This chart is based on principal components analysis for ideology and PageRank for leadership. See analysis methodology.

Bill Sponsorship & Cosponsorship

Some of Thurmond’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » (including bills from previous years)

Voting Record

From Jan 1955 to Nov 2002, Thurmond missed 613 of 16,836 roll call votes, which is 3.6%. This is worse than the median of 1.8% among the lifetime records of senators serving in Nov 2002. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Elligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1955 Jan-Mar	25	0	0.0%	0^th
1955 Apr-Jun	38	0	0.0%	0^th
1955 Jul-Aug	23	0	0.0%	0^th
1956 Jan-Mar	47	0	0.0%	0^th
1957 Jan-Mar	16	0	0.0%	0^th
1957 Apr-Jun	45	0	0.0%	0^th
1957 Jul-Aug	45	0	0.0%	0^th
1958 Feb-Mar	38	1	2.6%	0^th
1958 Apr-Jun	84	0	0.0%	0^th
1958 Jul-Aug	75	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 Jan-Apr	57	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 May-Aug	128	0	0.0%	0^th
1959 Sep-Sep	30	0	0.0%	0^th
1960 Jan-Apr	77	7	9.1%	0^th
1960 May-Aug	117	1	0.9%	0^th
1960 Sep-Sep	5	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 Jan-Apr	30	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 May-Aug	137	0	0.0%	0^th
1961 Sep-Sep	36	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Jan-Mar	20	0	0.0%	0^th
1962 Apr-Jun	61	1	1.6%	50^th
1962 Jul-Sep	122	1	0.8%	0^th
1962 Oct-Oct	18	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Jan-Mar	8	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Apr-Jun	67	0	0.0%	0^th
1963 Jul-Sep	56	1	1.8%	25^th
1963 Oct-Dec	82	4	4.9%	25^th
1964 Jan-Mar	59	0	0.0%	0^th
1964 Apr-Jun	135	2	1.5%	50^th
1964 Jul-Sep	97	2	2.1%	25^th
1965 Jan-Mar	30	5	16.7%	50^th
1965 Apr-Jun	105	10	9.5%	75^th
1965 Jul-Sep	105	1	1.0%	25^th
1965 Oct-Oct	15	0	0.0%	0^th
1966 Jan-Mar	25	4	16.0%	50^th
1966 Apr-Jun	54	5	9.3%	0^th
1966 Jul-Sep	115	2	1.7%	0^th
1966 Oct-Oct	35	1	2.9%	0^th
1967 Jan-Mar	52	1	1.9%	20^th
1967 Apr-Jun	70	7	10.0%	40^th
1967 Jul-Sep	77	0	0.0%	0^th
1967 Oct-Dec	104	7	6.7%	40^th
1968 Jan-Mar	67	1	1.5%	20^th
1968 Apr-Jun	96	5	5.2%	20^th
1968 Jul-Sep	86	8	9.3%	20^th
1968 Oct-Oct	25	5	20.0%	20^th
1969 Jan-Mar	16	0	0.0%	0^th
1969 Apr-Jun	24	8	33.3%	83^rd
1969 Jul-Sep	44	2	4.5%	33^rd
1969 Oct-Dec	145	17	11.7%	17^th
1970 Jan-Mar	100	2	2.0%	0^th
1970 Apr-Jun	85	7	8.2%	33^rd
1970 Jul-Sep	116	12	10.3%	33^rd
1970 Oct-Dec	101	11	10.9%	17^th
1971 Feb-Mar	24	1	4.2%	17^th
1971 Apr-Jun	86	11	12.8%	17^th
1971 Jul-Sep	107	10	9.3%	33^rd
1971 Oct-Dec	191	18	9.4%	17^th
1972 Jan-Mar	113	3	2.7%	17^th
1972 Apr-Jun	127	20	15.7%	67^th
1972 Jul-Sep	196	16	8.2%	67^th
1972 Oct-Oct	67	29	43.3%	67^th
1973 Jan-Mar	63	9	14.3%	89^th
1973 Apr-Jun	176	7	4.0%	22^nd
1973 Jul-Sep	164	1	0.6%	33^rd
1973 Oct-Dec	166	6	3.6%	22^nd
1974 Jan-Mar	88	12	13.6%	44^th
1974 Apr-Jun	176	2	1.1%	11^th
1974 Jul-Sep	138	5	3.6%	11^th
1974 Oct-Dec	133	4	3.0%	22^nd
1975 Jan-Mar	117	1	0.9%	20^th
1975 Apr-Jun	135	15	11.1%	50^th
1975 Jul-Sep	167	2	1.2%	10^th
1975 Oct-Dec	178	7	3.9%	10^th
1976 Jan-Mar	102	5	4.9%	30^th
1976 Apr-Jun	263	8	3.0%	20^th
1976 Jul-Sep	303	25	8.3%	40^th
1976 Oct-Oct	13	5	38.5%	40^th
1977 Jan-Mar	92	2	2.2%	15^th
1977 Apr-Jun	173	11	6.4%	54^th
1977 Jul-Sep	228	19	8.3%	92^nd
1977 Oct-Dec	131	9	6.9%	31^st
1978 Jan-Mar	74	2	2.7%	15^th
1978 Apr-Jun	117	8	6.8%	69^th
1978 Jul-Sep	229	21	9.2%	46^th
1978 Oct-Oct	83	1	1.2%	15^th
1979 Feb-Mar	32	2	6.3%	53^rd
1979 Apr-Jun	119	3	2.5%	41^st
1979 Jul-Sep	168	16	9.5%	71^st
1979 Oct-Dec	181	11	6.1%	41^st
1980 Jan-Mar	67	5	7.5%	53^rd
1980 Apr-Jun	214	1	0.5%	24^th
1980 Jul-Sep	177	0	0.0%	0^th
1980 Oct-Dec	84	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Jan-Mar	57	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Apr-Jun	124	0	0.0%	0^th
1981 Jul-Sep	119	1	0.8%	32^nd
1981 Oct-Dec	192	7	3.6%	27^th
1982 Feb-Mar	77	32	41.6%	95^th
1982 Apr-Jun	127	0	0.0%	0^th
1982 Jul-Sep	176	2	1.1%	41^st
1982 Oct-Dec	86	0	0.0%	0^th
1983 Feb-Mar	54	0	0.0%	0^th
1983 Apr-Jun	121	0	0.0%	0^th
1983 Jul-Sep	92	3	3.3%	65^th
1983 Oct-Nov	101	6	5.9%	52^nd
1984 Jan-Mar	45	1	2.2%	43^rd
1984 Apr-Jun	144	5	3.5%	57^th
1984 Jul-Sep	68	3	4.4%	39^th
1984 Oct-Oct	35	0	0.0%	0^th
1985 Jan-Mar	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1985 Apr-Jun	116	0	0.0%	0^th
1985 Jul-Sep	60	0	0.0%	0^th
1985 Oct-Dec	183	1	0.5%	14^th
1986 Jan-Mar	51	0	0.0%	0^th
1986 Apr-Jun	103	1	1.0%	54^th
1986 Jul-Sep	149	1	0.7%	36^th
1986 Oct-Oct	56	2	3.6%	71^st
1987 Jan-Mar	50	1	2.0%	46^th
1987 Apr-Jun	123	9	7.3%	73^rd
1987 Jul-Sep	120	2	1.7%	27^th
1987 Oct-Dec	127	5	3.9%	65^th
1988 Jan-Mar	84	14	16.7%	89^th
1988 Apr-Jun	136	1	0.7%	16^th
1988 Jul-Sep	127	3	2.4%	32^nd
1988 Oct-Oct	31	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Jan-Mar	26	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Apr-Jun	77	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Jul-Sep	118	0	0.0%	0^th
1989 Oct-Nov	91	0	0.0%	0^th
1990 Jan-Mar	48	0	0.0%	0^th
1990 Apr-Jun	95	1	1.1%	37^th
1990 Jul-Sep	114	0	0.0%	0^th
1990 Oct-Oct	69	0	0.0%	0^th
1991 Jan-Mar	41	2	4.9%	80^th
1991 Apr-Jun	74	0	0.0%	0^th
1991 Jul-Sep	96	1	1.0%	46^th
1991 Oct-Nov	69	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Jan-Mar	61	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Apr-Jun	74	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Jul-Sep	117	0	0.0%	0^th
1992 Oct-Oct	18	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Feb-Mar	93	8	8.6%	94^th
1993 Apr-Jun	99	1	1.0%	30^th
1993 Jul-Sep	109	0	0.0%	0^th
1993 Oct-Nov	94	0	0.0%	0^th
1994 Jan-Mar	86	1	1.2%	31^st
1994 Apr-Jun	92	0	0.0%	0^th
1994 Jul-Sep	136	5	3.7%	66^th
1994 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Jan-Mar	125	1	0.8%	41^st
1995 Apr-Jun	171	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Jul-Sep	184	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Oct-Dec	133	1	0.8%	56^th
1996 Jan-Mar	60	0	0.0%	0^th
1996 Apr-Jun	122	0	0.0%	0^th
1996 Jul-Sep	121	0	0.0%	0^th
1996 Oct-Oct	3	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Jan-Mar	35	2	5.7%	94^th
1997 Apr-Jun	125	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Jul-Sep	103	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Oct-Nov	35	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Jan-Mar	52	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Apr-Jun	131	2	1.5%	70^th
1998 Jul-Sep	109	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Oct-Oct	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Jan-Mar	81	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Apr-Jun	111	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Jul-Sep	112	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Oct-Nov	70	0	0.0%	0^th
2000 Feb-Mar	51	0	0.0%	0^th
2000 Apr-Jun	120	1	0.8%	45^th
2000 Jul-Sep	89	0	0.0%	0^th
2000 Oct-Dec	38	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Jan-Mar	63	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Apr-Jun	157	1	0.6%	47^th
2001 Jul-Sep	68	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Oct-Dec	92	5	5.4%	86^th
2002 Jan-Mar	59	4	6.8%	67^th
2002 Apr-Jun	107	3	2.8%	63^rd
2002 Jul-Sep	61	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Oct-Nov	26	0	0.0%	0^th

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
Congressional Biographical Directory for elected positions
United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
THOMAS, for sponsored bills

Recent Legislative Activity

Elections and Offices

Sen. Strom Thurmond [R-SC, 1961-2002] leaves office as Senator from South Carolina

Nov 22, 2002

Elections and Offices

Sen. Strom Thurmond [R-SC, 1961-2002] takes office as Senator from South Carolina

Jan 03, 1961

Elections and Offices

Sen. Strom Thurmond [R-SC, 1961-2002] leaves office as Senator from South Carolina

Sep 01, 1960

Elections and Offices

Sen. Strom Thurmond [R-SC, 1961-2002] takes office as Senator from South Carolina

Nov 07, 1956

Elections and Offices

Sen. Strom Thurmond [R-SC, 1961-2002] leaves office as Senator from South Carolina

Apr 04, 1956