Editing Strom Thurmond (section)

=== Health ===
Toward the end of Thurmond's Senate career, critics suggested his mental abilities had declined. His supporters argued that, while he lacked physical stamina due to his age, mentally he remained aware and attentive, and maintained a very active work schedule, showing up for every floor vote. He stepped down as Chairman of the [[Senate Armed Services Committee]] at the beginning of 1999, as he had pledged to do in late 1997.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-05-mn-60950-story.html|title=Sen. Thurmond to Quit Armed Services Post|date=December 5, 1997|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Retrospectively, a Senate aide stated that "for his last ten years, Thurmond didn't know if he was on foot or on horseback", while a 2020 ''New Yorker'' article stated that he was "widely known" by the end of his career to be ''[[non compos mentis]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Mayer |first=Jane |date=2020-12-10 |title=Dianne Feinstein's Missteps Raise a Painful Age Question Among Senate Democrats |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dianne-feinsteins-missteps-raise-a-painful-age-question-among-senate-democrats |access-date=2022-12-04 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref>

{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?174100-1/senator-thurmond-100th-birthday Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, held at the Dirksen Senate office building, December 5, 2002], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?174377-1/strom-thurmonds-political-memorabilia Tour of Thurmond's Senate office prior to his retirement, December 19, 2002], [[C-SPAN]]}}

In August 1999, Thurmond underwent surgery for an enlarged prostate. In September, he was admitted to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for tests.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/13/us/national-news-briefs-thurmond-hospitalized-for-more-tests.html|title=National News Briefs; Thurmond Hospitalized For More Tests|date=September 13, 1999|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> In October 2000, Thurmond collapsed while lunching with a staff member and an acquaintance at a restaurant in [[Alexandria, Virginia]], and was admitted to Walter Reed; his spokeswoman Genevieve Erny stated that the collapse was found to have been unrelated to previous illnesses.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/01/us/strom-thurmond-in-hospital-after-collapse.html|title=Strom Thurmond in Hospital After Collapse|date=October 1, 2000|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>  On the morning of October 2, 2001, Thurmond was admitted to Walter Reed after fainting at his Senate desk. He was accompanied in the ambulance by fellow Republican and retired heart transplant surgeon [[Bill Frist]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101930604/|title=Ailing Strom Thurmond Faints in Senate Chamber|date=October 3, 2001|newspaper=Asheville Citizen-Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/03/us/thurmond-taken-to-hospital-after-fainting.html|title=Thurmond Taken to Hospital After Fainting|date=October 3, 2001|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>