Editing Strom Thurmond (section)

=== 1960s ===
In February 1960, Thurmond requested a [[quorum call]] that would produce at least half the membership of the Senate, the call being seen as one of the delay tactics employed by Southerners during the meeting. 51 senators assembled, allowing the Senate to adjourn in spite of Thurmond's calls for another quorum call. Thurmond afterward denied his responsibility in convening the Saturday session, attributing it to Democrat [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. He said that those insistent on passing a civil rights bill should be around during discussions on the matter.<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 28, 1960|title=Senator Russell Ties Rights Bakers To Race Riots|work=[[Toledo Blade]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wggwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_gAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6818%2C4468116|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref> In the [[1960 United States presidential election]], Thurmond refused to back the Democratic nominee, his Senate colleague [[John F. Kennedy]], due to the latter's support for civil rights. In the [[1960 United States Senate election in South Carolina|1960 South Carolina Senate race]], Thurmond ran unopposed in the general election; no Republican candidate was on the ballot. As of 2022, 1960 remains the last time a Democrat won South Carolina's Class 2 Senate seat.{{Sfn|Bass|Thompson|1998|p=189}} In the presidential election, Thurmond received 14 electoral votes for vice president (as [[Harry F. Byrd|Harry Byrd Sr.]]'s running mate). Though both Byrd and Thurmond had long since moved on from the States Rights' Democratic Party, they were the decided protest ticket of several Southern delegates and [[unpledged elector]]s, who refused to give their support to Kennedy.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Middleton|first=Russell|date=1962|title=The Civil Rights Issue And Presidential Voting Among Southern Negroes And Whites|journal=[[Social Forces]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|volume=40|issue=3|pages=209–215|doi=10.2307/2573630|jstor=2573630}}</ref>

Thurmond predicted the [[87th United States Congress|87th Congress]] would begin with a move to remove him from the Senate Democratic Caucus.<ref>{{cite news|date=January 3, 1961|title=Thurmond Invites Fight To Oust Him|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/01/03/archives/thurmond-invites-fight-to-oust-him.html|url-access=limited|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref> This did not happen, and an aide for Senator [[Joseph S. Clark Jr.]] said there was never an intention to pursue recourse against Thurmond, though in his opinion Thurmond should no longer be a member of the party.<ref name="Thurmond Not Purge Target">{{cite news|date=January 4, 1961|title=Thurmond Not Purge Target|work=[[The Item]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6gEvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xqkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6411%2C158793|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref>

In August 1961, Thurmond formally requested the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Armed Services Committee]] to vote on whether to vote for "a conspiracy to muzzle military anti-Communist drives." The appearance prompted the cancellation of another public appearance in [[Fort Jackson, South Carolina|Fort Jackson]], as Thurmond favored marking his proposal with his presence, and his request for a $75,000 committee study was slated for consideration.<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 31, 1961|title=Military Gag Probe Asked|work=[[Daily Herald (Utah)|Daily Herald]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83660013/military-gag-probe-asked/|access-date=August 18, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In November, Thurmond said that President Kennedy had lost support in the South due to the formation of the National Relations Boards, what he called Kennedy's softness on communism, and an increase in military men being muzzled for speaking out against communism.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 28, 1961|title=Thurmond Defends Military Leaders|work=[[Madera Tribune]]|publisher=|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19611130.2.42|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref>

In May 1962, Thurmond was part of a group of Senate orators headed by [[John C. Stennis]] who expressed opposition to the Kennedy administration's literacy test bill, arguing that the measure was in violation of states' rights as defined by the Constitution. The bill was an effort to reduce the use of discriminatory and subjective [[literacy tests]] in the South; ostensibly used to establish voters' competency, in practice they were used against African-American voters and preventing their registration.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 1, 1962|title=Justice Dept. Move Sparks New Debate|newspaper=[[Times-News (Hendersonville, North Carolina)|Times-News]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19620501&id=EPMZAAAAIBAJ&pg=5477,6510|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref> After the Supreme Court ruled [[Engel v. Vitale|state composed prayer in public schools]] was unconstitutional, Thurmond urged Congress to take steps to prevent the Court from making similar decisions.<ref>{{cite news|date=July 26, 1962|title=Thurmond Blasts Court's Decision|work=[[Madera Tribune]]|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MT19620726&dliv=userclipping&cliparea=1.2%2C4168%2C2460%2C649%2C1353&factor=4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-strom+thurmond-------1|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref> In September 1962, Thurmond called for an invasion of Cuba.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marlow|first=James|date=September 5, 1962|title=Cuba, Soviet Warned|work=[[Springfield News-Leader]]|publisher=|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/299255121/|access-date=August 13, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In February 1963, Thurmond stated that "the brush curtain around Cuba is a formidable Soviet strategic military base" and estimated between 30,000 and 40,000 Cuban troops were under the leadership of a Soviet general. Hours after the statement was made public, a Pentagon official disputed his claims as being "at wide variance with carefully evaluated data collected by U.S. intelligence" and called for Thurmond to release his proof to the Defense Department.<ref>{{cite news|date=February 2, 1963|title=Soviet Has Around 40,000 Military Personnel In Cuba|newspaper=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A7-hzOuI2KQC&dat=19630202&printsec=frontpage&hl=en}}</ref> During [[Paul Nitze]]'s nomination hearing for [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]], Thurmond was noted for asking "rapid fire questions" on military action and focusing on Nitze's participation as a moderator in the 1958 National Council of Churches conference.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 7, 1963|title=Thurmond Fires Queries Senate Group Grills Nitze, Navy Secretary Nominee|work=[[The San Bernardino Sun]]|publisher=|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SBS19631108.1.3|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref> Along with Arizona Senator [[Barry Goldwater]], Thurmond delayed the Nitze nomination.<ref>{{cite news|last=Raymond|first=Jack|date=November 16, 1963|title=Senators Delay Approving Nitze {{endash}} Questions Are Raised About Parley and Land Sale Asked About Views|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/16/archives/senators-delay-approving-nitze-questions-are-raised-about-parley.html|access-date=August 13, 2021}}</ref> In spite of Thurmond voting against him, the nomination was approved.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 22, 1963|title=Senate Group Backs Nitze As Navy Head|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83357006/senate-group-backs-nitze-as-navy-head/|access-date=August 13, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

The day after the Nitze vote, President Kennedy was [[assassination of President Kennedy|assassinated]] in [[Dallas, Texas]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=November 22, 1963 {{endash}} Death of the President|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/november-22-1963-death-of-the-president|access-date=August 23, 2021|website=[[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]]}}</ref> Thurmond expressed the view that a conspiracy would be found by investigators to have been responsible for JFK's death.<ref>{{cite news|date=February 14, 1967|title=Thurmond Says a Red Plot Led to Death of Kennedy|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/02/14/archives/thurmond-says-a-red-plot-led-to-death-of-kennedy.html|access-date=August 23, 2021}}</ref> Vice President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] [[First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson|ascended to the presidency]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 23, 2021|title=Johnson Takes Over Presidency; Nation, World Mourn Kennedy|work=[[Carroll Daily Times Herald]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83977834/johnson-takes-over-presidency-nation/|access-date=August 23, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He began campaigning to secure passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], which angered white segregationists. These laws ended segregation and committed the federal government to enforce voting rights of citizens by the supervision of elections in states in which the pattern of voting showed black people had been disenfranchised. During the signing ceremony for the Civil Rights Act, President Johnson nominated [[LeRoy Collins]] as the first Director of the Community Relations Service.<ref>{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Lyndon B.|author-link=Lyndon B. Johnson|date=July 2, 1964|title=446 – Radio and Television Remarks Upon Signing the Civil Rights Bill|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=26361|access-date=August 23, 2021|website=The American Presidency Project|quote=First, I will send to the Senate my nomination of LeRoy Collins to be Director of the Community Relations Service. Governor Collins will bring the experience of a long career of distinguished public service to the task of helping communities solve problems of human relations through reason and commonsense.}}</ref> Subsequently, Thurmond reminded Collins of his past support for segregation and implied that he was a traitor to the South, Thurmond having particular disdain for an address by Collins the previous winter in which he charged Southern leaders with being harsh and intemperate.<ref name="Cohodas353">{{cite book|last=Cohodas|first=Nadine|title=Strom Thurmond & the Politics of Southern Change|publisher=Mercer University Press|year=1995|isbn=978-0865544468|page=353}}</ref> Thurmond also suggested that Collins had sought to fault southern leaders for President Kennedy's assassination.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=353}} Thurmond was the only senator to vote against Collins' nomination being sent to the Senate, and later one of eight senators to vote against his nomination in the chamber.{{Sfn|Cohodas|1993|p=355}}

==== Party switch ====
On September 16, 1964, Thurmond confirmed he was leaving the Democratic Party to work on the [[Barry Goldwater 1964 presidential campaign|presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater]], charging the Democrats with having "abandoned the people" and having repudiated the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]].<ref>{{cite news|date=September 17, 1964|title=Thurmond Break Is Made Official {{endash}} He Will Work as Republican for Goldwater Election|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/17/archives/thurmond-break-is-made-official-he-will-work-as-republican-for.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=August 23, 2021}}</ref> During the campaign, Thurmond told reporters that he believed [[Barry Goldwater]] could carry South Carolina and other southern states.<ref>{{cite news|date=September 18, 1964|title=Thurmond Joins Goldwater Drive|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/18/thurmond-joins-goldwater-drive.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=August 23, 2021}}</ref> Though Goldwater lost in a [[Landslide victory|landslide]], he won South Carolina with 59% of the vote compared to President Johnson's 41%.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sabato|first=Larry J.|date=October 27, 2014|title=How Goldwater Changed Campaigns Forever|work=[[Politico|Politico (magazine)]]|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/barry-goldwater-lasting-legacy-112210/|access-date=August 23, 2021}}</ref> Senate Republicans were lukewarm to Thurmond due to their "super minority" of only 32 seats in the Senate prior to Thurmond's switch,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/682280/generalelection_USSenator.pdf |title=United States Senator: 1914–2014 |website=Vermont State Archives and Records Administration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053355/https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/682280/generalelection_USSenator.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=February 10, 2021 }}</ref> and voted for committee assignments granting Thurmond the ability "to keep at least some of the seniority power he had gained as a Democrat."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/01/16/archives/gop-senators-approve-assignments-to-thurmond.html|title=G.O.P. Senators Approve Assignments to Thurmond|date=January 16, 1965|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Following the election, Johnson continued to push through Civil Rights legislation, most notably the [[Voting Rights Act]] in 1965, which committed the federal government to enforce voting rights of citizens by the supervision of elections in states with noted record of voter suppression and disenfranchisement.<ref>One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work in the public domain: "Introduction to Federal Voting Rights Laws: The Effect of the Voting Rights Act". www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_c.php.  U.S. Department of Justice. June 19, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2021.</ref> Thurmond explained his opposition to the Voting Rights Act as being opposed to its authorization of the federal government to determine the processes behind how statewide elections are conducted and insisted he was not against black voter turnout.<ref>Cohodas, p. 13.</ref> During floor debate on the bill, Thurmond espoused that the VRA would lead to "despotism and tyranny."<ref>May, Gary (April 9, 2013). Bending Toward Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy (Kindle ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books. {{ISBN|978-0-465-01846-8}}.</ref> With the Voting Rights Act passing into law by a slightly larger margin than the Civil Rights Act, Thurmond's opposition to civil rights had proven as ineffective as a Republican as it had been as a Democrat.<ref>"Senate Vote #78 in 1965: To Pass S. 1564, the Voting Rights Act of 1965". govtrack.us. Civic Impulse, LLC. www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s78. Retrieved February 10, 2021.</ref>

In 1965, [[L. Mendel Rivers]] became chairman of the [[House Armed Services Committee]], commentator Wayne King crediting Thurmond's involvement with Rivers as giving Rivers' district "an even dozen military installations that are said to account for one‐third to one‐half of the jobs in the area."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/09/archives/federal-funds-pour-into-sunbelt-states.html|title=Federal Funds Pour Into Sunbelt States|date=February 9, 1976|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> In his [[1966 United States Senate election in South Carolina|1966 re-election campaign]], the new Republican senator faced no opposition in the primary,<ref>{{cite news|date=June 12, 1966|title=Major Democrats Go To Line In Primaries|newspaper=The Santa Fe New Mexican}}</ref> and competed against Bradley Morrah Jr. in the general election campaign.<ref>{{cite news|date=February 19, 1992|title=P. Bradley Morrah Jr.|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1992/02/19/p-bradley-morrah-jr/}}</ref> Morrah avoided direct charges against Thurmond's record and generally spoke of his own ambitions in the event he was elected,<ref>{{cite news|date=May 7, 1966|title=Democratic Hopefuls Seek U.S. Senate Votes|newspaper=The Greenville News}}</ref> later referring to Thurmond's time in the Senate as being ineffective.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 8, 1966|title=S. C. Voters Face Extra-Long Ballot In Today's Election|publisher=Aiken Standard and Review}}</ref> Thurmond won election with 62.2 percent of the vote (271,297 votes) to Morrah's 37.8 percent (164,955 votes). In 1966, former governor [[Ernest Hollings|Ernest "Fritz" Hollings]] won South Carolina's other Senate seat in a special election. He and Thurmond served together for just over 36 years, making them the longest-serving Senate duo in American history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/04/06/710570942/former-sen-fritz-hollings-97-has-died|title=Former Sen. 'Fritz' Hollings, 97, Has Died|date=April 6, 2019|publisher=NPR}}</ref>

At the start of the [[89th United States Congress]], Thurmond was appointed to the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Constitutional Rights.<ref>{{cite news|date=January 18, 1967|title=Thurmond Replaces Javits On a Rights Subcommittee|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/01/18/archives/thurmond-replaces-javits-on-a-rights-subcommittee.html}}</ref> In March, Thurmond won unanimous approval to have Clark's remarks removed from the record following an argument the senators had after Clark mentioned that [[Charleston, South Carolina]] would be included in the Pentagon's list of twenty-five American cities that would get priority in their antimissile protection and attributed this to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rivers' influence.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 22, 1967|title=Senate Endorses Defenses, Then Argues About Locale|newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19670322&id=gcxTAAAAIBAJ&pg=5578,2338235}}</ref> In June 1967, Johnson nominated [[Thurgood Marshall]] to be the first African-American Justice on the Supreme Court,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thinktank/Supreme-Court-nomination-that-changed-the-nation.html|title=Supreme Court nomination that changed the nation|date=September 28, 2015|first=Wil|last=Haygood|access-date=January 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614094350/http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thinktank/Supreme-Court-nomination-that-changed-the-nation.html|archive-date=June 14, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Thurmond joined [[Sam Ervin]], [[Spessard Holland]], and [[James Eastland]] in calling Marshall a "Constitutional iconoclast" in Senate debate.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/marshall-confirmed-supreme-court-justice-1967-article-1.2340894|title=Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as Supreme Court Justice in 1967|date=August 29, 2015|newspaper=The New York Daily News}}</ref> Thurmond questioned Marshall for an hour "on fine points of constitutional law and history",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/07/20/archives/marshall-is-questioned-on-fine-points-of-the-law-thurmond-presses.html|title=Marshall Is Questioned on Fine Points of the Law; Thurmond Presses Nominee to Court With More Than 60 Complicated Queries|date=July 20, 1967|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> and accused Marshall of having evaded questions on his legal principles during committee hearings.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Hearing Strom Raps Marshall For Ducking Issue|date=August 11, 1967|newspaper=The Greenville News}}</ref> Marshall was still confirmed by the Senate at the end of that month.<ref>Graham, Fred P. (August 31, 1967), [https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/31/archives/senate-confirms-marshall-as-the-first-negro-justice-10-southerners.html "Senate Confirms Marshall As the First Negro Justice; 10 Southerners Oppose High Court Nominee in 69-to-11 Vote"], ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> Later that year, Thurmond attributed the [[1967 USS Forrestal fire|1967 USS ''Forrestal'' fire]] to being precipitated by communists,<ref>{{cite news|date=July 31, 1967|title=Thurmond Charges Red-Inspired|publisher=Panama City News-Herald}}</ref> and warned against enacting any of the three proposed [[Panama Canal]] treaties on the grounds that they would lead to Communist control of the waterway if enacted.<ref>{{cite news|date=September 3, 1967|title=Thurmond Warns of Peril To Panama Canal in Pacts|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/09/03/archives/thurmond-warns-of-peril-to-panama-canal-in-pacts.html}}</ref>

In 1968, Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] decided to retire, and Johnson subsequently nominated [[Abe Fortas]] to succeed him.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-cynicism-on-the-supreme-court-reaches-a-new-low|title=GOP Cynicism on the Supreme Court Reaches a New Low|first=Jay|last=Michaelson|date=February 15, 2016|newspaper=The Daily Beast}}</ref> On the third day of hearings, Thurmond questioned Fortas over ''[[McNabb-Mallory rule|Mallory v. United States]]'' (1957), a case taking place before Fortas's tenure, but for which he was nonetheless held responsible by Thurmond.<ref name=Kalman340>{{cite book|title=Abe Fortas: A Biography|first=Laura|last=Kalman|pages=340–341|year=1992|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300052589}}</ref> Thurmond asked Fortas if the Supreme Court decision in the ''Mallory v. United States'' case was an encouragement of individuals to commit serious crimes such as rape and if he believed in "that kind of justice", an inquiry that shocked even the usually stoic Fortas.<ref name=Kalman340 /> Thurmond displayed sex magazines, which he called "obscene, foul, putrid, filthy and repulsive", to validate his charges that Supreme Court rulings overturning obscenity convictions had led to a large wave of hardcore pornography material. Thurmond stated that Fortas had backed overturning 23 of the 26 lower court obscenity decisions.<ref>{{cite news|title=Senate Committee Asks Fortas to Testify Again: Thurmond Brandishes Nude Magazines, Assails Justice for Rulings on Obscenity|date=July 24, 1968|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Thurmond also arranged for the screening of explicit films that Fortas had purportedly legalized to be played before reporters and his own Senate colleagues.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-03-oe-greenberg3-story.html|title=The Republicans' Filibuster Lie|date=May 3, 2005|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> In September, Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]] spoke of a deal made between Thurmond and Nixon over Thurmond's opposition to the Fortas nomination.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/09/14/archives/humphrey-scores-the-same-nixon-sees-a-deal-with-thurmond-on-fortas.html|title=Humphrey Scores 'the Same Nixon'; Sees a Deal With Thurmond on Fortas -- Also Chides Opponent on Atom Pact Humphrey Criticizes 'The Same Nixon' |date=September 14, 1968|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Both Nixon<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/09/14/archives/nixon-rejects-charge.html|title=Nixon Rejects Charge|date=September 14, 1968|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> and Thurmond denied Humphrey's claims, Thurmond saying that he had never discussed the nomination with Nixon while conceding the latter had unsuccessfully tried to sway him from opposing Fortas.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/09/14/archives/thurmond-denies-deal.html|title=Thurmond Promotes Nixon's Cause Deep in Wallace Country|date=September 14, 1968|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

In the lead-up to the [[1968 United States Presidential election]], Thurmond stated that President Johnson could be defeated in a re-election bid by a Republican challenger since the candidate was likely to be less obnoxious than the president.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sen. Thurmond Sees Defeat Of Johnson|date=October 24, 1966|publisher=Aiken Standard And Review}}</ref> Thurmond was an early supporter of a second presidential campaign by Nixon, his backing coming from the latter's position on the Vietnam War,<ref>Black, p. 474.</ref> Thurmond promising Nixon that he would not give in to the "depredations of the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] forces."<ref>{{cite book|title=Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full|first=Conrad|last=Black|isbn=978-1586485191|year=2007|publisher=PublicAffairs|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781586485191/page/526 526]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781586485191/page/526}}</ref> During the general election campaign, Nixon's running mate [[Spiro Agnew]] stated that he did not believe Thurmond was a racist when asked his opinion on the matter,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19680921&id=LZwgAAAAIBAJ&pg=2769,2154085|title=Agnew's Worries Are Over|first=Clayton|last=Fritchey|publisher=Lewiston Evening Journal|date=September 21, 1968}}</ref> and Thurmond participated in a two-day tour of Georgia during October where he warned that [[American Independent Party]] candidate [[George Wallace]] would split the vote and give the election to Democratic nominee [[Hubert Humphrey]] by having the Democratic-majority House of Representatives select him in the event none of the candidates received enough electoral votes to win the presidency outright. Thurmond also predicted that Nixon would carry Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Tennessee.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/60323366/|title=Thurmond Woos Wallace Voters|publisher=The Bridgepost Post|date=October 24, 1968}}</ref> Nixon carried each of these states with the exception of Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?f=0&fips=48&year=1968|title=1968 Presidential General Election Results – Texas|access-date=April 16, 2018}}</ref>

Thurmond decried the Supreme Court opinion in ''[[Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education]]'' (1969), which ordered the immediate desegregation of schools in the American South.<ref name="Woodward, Bob 1979 Page 56">Woodward, Bob; Scott Armstrong (September 1979). ''The Brethren'', Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|0-671-24110-9}}. Page 56.</ref> This had followed continued Southern resistance for more than a decade to desegregation following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Thurmond praised President Nixon and his "Southern Strategy" of delaying desegregation, saying Nixon "stood with the South in this case".<ref name="Woodward, Bob 1979 Page 56"/> In 1969, Thurmond opined that ''[[The New York Times]]'' "had a conflict of interest in its attacks on Otto F. Otepka's appointment to the Subversive Activities Control Board."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/26/archives/thurmond-scores-times-on-otepka-charges-newspaper-has-a-conflict-of.html|title=Thurmond Scores Times on Otepka; Charges Newspaper Has a Conflict of Interest|date=April 25, 1969|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> and called for Associate Justice [[William O. Douglas]] to resign over what he considered political activities,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/05/30/archives/thurmond-urges-douglas-to-quit-in-newsletter-he-denounces-political.html|title=Thurmond Urges Douglas to Quit; In Newsletter, He Denounces 'Political Activity' |date=May 30, 1969|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> a request which Douglas ignored.<ref>{{cite web |title=Members of the Supreme Court of the United States |publisher=[[Supreme Court of the United States]] |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/members.aspx |access-date=April 21, 2010 |archive-date=April 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429170327/https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/members.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the latter part of the year, President Nixon nominated [[Clement Haynsworth]] for associate justice.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/08/22/archives/nixon-submits-nomination-of-haynsworth-to-senate.html|title=Nixon Submits Nomination Of Haynsworth to Senate|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 22, 1969 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/11/18/archives/haynsworth-gains-votes-of-2-more.html|title=Haynsworth Gains Votes Of 2 More|date=November 18, 1969|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> This came after the White House consulted with Thurmond throughout all of July, as Thurmond had become impressed with Haynsworth following their close collaboration. Thurmond wrote to Haynsworth that he had worked harder on his nomination than any other that had occurred since his Senate career began.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Origins of the Southern Strategy|year=2001|first=Bruce H.|last=Kalk|page=94|isbn=978-0739102428|publisher=Lexington Books}}</ref> The Haynsworth nomination was rejected in the Senate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=2355|title=472 – Remarks on the Decision of Judge Clement F. Haynsworth Jr., To Continue as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit|date=December 4, 1969|first=Richard|last=Nixon|author-link=Richard Nixon}}</ref> Years later, at a 1977 hearing, Thurmond told Haynsworth, "It's a pity you are not on the Supreme Court today. Several senators who voted against you have told me they would vote for you if they had it to do again."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/03/15/senate-views-on-haynsworth-changed/7ef35b47-dd26-4402-badc-8b55908f8e92/|title=Senate Views on Haynsworth Changed|date=March 15, 1977|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

In 1969, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' ran a story accusing Thurmond of receiving "an extraordinarily high payment for land". Thurmond responded to the claim by calling the tale a liberal smear intended to damage his political influence,<ref>{{cite news|date=September 16, 1969|title=Thurmond Scores an Article in Life; Terms Contention on Land Deal a 'Liberal Smear'|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/09/16/archives/thurmond-scores-an-article-in-life-terms-contention-on-land-deal-a.html}}</ref> later calling the magazine "anti-South".<ref>{{cite news|date=September 20, 1969|title=Thurmond Rebuts the Life Article; Says Magazine Is Trying to 'Destroy' Him Politically|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/09/20/archives/thurmond-rebuts-the-life-article-says-magazine-is-trying-to-destroy.html}}</ref> and a few days later, Thurmond named executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party [[Donald L. Fowler]] as the individual who had spread the story, a charge that Fowler denied.<ref>{{cite news|date=September 22, 1969|title=Thurmond Says Fowler Aided Magazine Team; Latter Denies It|publisher=Aiken Standard|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/aiken-standard-and-review-sep-22-1969-p-1/}}</ref>