Section 1 Strom Thurmond's America

Hello Again,

In order to understand Senator Strom Thurmond's rise to political power a student of history must look at the town in which Senator Thurmond was born and raised.  Edgefield, South Carolina and its surrounding environs in the early twentieth century was a unique Southern town in which many of South Carolina's previous governors had come from.  The political power that this town possessed and Thurmond's early education in politics would form the basis of his future political influence.  The author, Joseph Crespino writes "he learned too about the tragedy after the Civil War, the folly of Reconstruction and the glory of Redemption, that had set the nation on solid footing once again." This writing infers that Thurmond's early upbringing in Edgefield, South Carolina during the early twentieth century was a unique insight into the political mind of the future United States Senator.