It’s silly to play the “What If” game—but it’s still fun.  Tonight, February 2^nd, 2005, President George W. Bush will give his annual State of the Union Address.  This is a duty clearly defined by the Federal Constitution (Article II, Section 3), which declares that the President of the United States "shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."

           

In other words, George W. Bush has to tell the people where the nation is, where it is going, and what he’s going to do about it. 

           

In this year’s address, the President will certainly discuss the occupation of Iraq, social security, education reform, and other key issues that the nation is currently facing.  He might even throw in a few surprises (last year, George W. Bush caught many off guard when he condemned the use of steroids in professional sports).

           

Of course, the focus of the State of the Union address changes year after year, and president after president.  Back in 1950, for example, President Harry Truman had a different set of issues to deal with.  At the time, the United States was helping Europe recover from World War II (i.e. the Marshall Plan), the Cold War was heating up (the Korean War began that year),  and segregation still plagued the nation.

           

President Truman almost never gave his State of the Union address—he was almost never elected president.  A third party candidate from South Carolina named Strom Thurmond made the 1948 election one of the closest in history.  Because Strom Thurmond took so many votes in the South, Truman had to scrounge for votes elsewhere to upset Republican opponent Thomas Dewey.

           

But let’s back up one second.  Strom Thurmond ran for president?  That’s right.  In 1948, the long-time senator made a bid for the highest office in the land.  Here’s the “historical perspective.”

 

Strom Thurmond began his political career as a South Carolina state senator during the Great Depression.  After serving in World War II, he was elected as the state’s governor.  Thurmond believed in the concept of states’ rights, an ideal that had defined South Carolina prior to the Civil War.  He was also a strong supporter of segregation, a controversial issue that placed him on the national scene.  Thurmond felt that the federal government was overstepping its boundaries by interfering with South Carolina’s—or any other southern state’s—right to uphold “Jim Crow” laws (these were laws that restricted the civil rights of African Americans).

           

In 1948, Thurmond and other southern Democrats found themselves at odds with the rest of the Democratic Party over the issue of segregation.  Refusing to give in, the southern politicians split from the rest of the Democrats and formed the States’ Rights Party.  The “Dixiecrats”—as the party was commonly called—immediately nominated Strom Thurmond as their presidential candidate.  Though Thurmond had no real chance in winning the election, he did receive a remarkable thirty-nine electoral votes from South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

           

Thurmond’s bid for the presidency had impact in two ways.  First, Thurmond became a nationally known figure and the presidential campaign gave him a soap-box to speak his views.  Secondly, although he was not the leading candidate, Strom Thurmond may have been the most important candidate.  He took so many votes away in the South that Democrat Harry Truman and Republican Thomas Dewey had to completely change their campaign strategies.

           

After the Presidential election, South Carolina elected Strom Thurmond to the national Senate in 1954.  This was especially surprising considering that he didn’t even officially run for the office.  Thurmond became the only person to ever gain a Senate seat as a write-in candidate.  Shortly into his term, he resigned so that others could challenge him in a more conventional primary.  Thurmond won easily, regaining the seat that he had left open by his resignation.  He kept that seat for nearly half a century.

 

Thurmond is most remembered for his Senate career.   While in office, he continued to denounce the laws that ultimately ended segregation.  In 1964, he switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in protest of President Johnson’s support for the Civil Rights Act.  Despite his efforts, the Act did pass, segregation officially ended, and African Americans gained all civil rights under the law.

 

Contrary to his reputation, however, Thurmond was not only concerned about segregation.  His largest contribution (and, in hindsight, more significant than his campaign against segregation) was his ability to recognize the need of South Carolina and other southern states to focus on industrialization.  Thurmond worked to help these states grow less dependent on their agricultural roots, and more prepared to face the future.  His success in attracting industry to the area created jobs, revived the economy, and enabled the south to compete with the already-established industrial centers of the north.

           

Strom Thurmond had a few other remarkable achievements in Senate.  For starters, he served in the office for forty-nine years, longer than any other member.  He gave up his seat at the age of 100, making him the oldest Senator in history.  During his entire career, Thurmond remained enormously popular in South Carolina and throughout the southern states.