Changes

Thurmond as a Democrat had been a supporter of [[segregation]] as most were in the South at that time,  and ran for President on the breakaway [[Dixiecrat]] platform in 1948.  

Thurmond as a Democrat had been a supporter of [[segregation]] as most were in the South at that time,  and ran for President on the breakaway [[Dixiecrat]] platform in 1948.  

'''Dixiecrat''' was the informal term for Southern Democrats who in 1948 refused to support President [[Harry S. Truman]] for reelection because he was too liberal on racial issues. The official name was the '''States Rights Party'''.  They formed a third party that nominated Thurmond, who carried four states in the Deep South where he was the official nominee of the Democratic party, gaining 39 electoral votes. Thurmond had 1.2 million popular votes, or 2.4% of the national total. The party did not nominate any other candidates at any level, and dissolved after Truman won the election.  Dixiecrats like Thurmond went back to their old party.

'''Dixiecrat''' was the informal term for Southern Democrats who in 1948 refused to support President [[Harry S. Truman]] for reelection because he was too liberal on racial issues. The official name was the '''States Rights Party'''.  They formed a third party that nominated Thurmond, who carried four states in the Deep South where he was the official nominee of the Democratic party, gaining 39 electoral votes. Thurmond had 1.2 million popular votes, or 2.4% of the national total. The party did not nominate any other candidates at any level, and dissolved after Truman won the election.  Dixiecrats like Thurmond went back to their old party. By the Presidential Election of 1964, the former "Deep South" had undergone a great political realignment, whereby many of the former Dixiecrats and Southern Democrats had switched political affiliations from the ((Democratic Party)), led by (Lyndon B. Johnson)), to the ((Republican Party)) under the banner of Barry Goldwater.  

==Senator==

==Senator==

* Pietrusza, David ''1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Changed America'', New York: Union Square Press, 2011.

* Pietrusza, David ''1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Changed America'', New York: Union Square Press, 2011.

{{DEFAULTSORT: Thurmond, Strom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT: Thurmond, Strom}}

[[Category:Former United States Senators]]

[[Category:Former United States Senators]]