Editing Strom Thurmond (section)

===1948 presidential campaign===
{{Main|United States presidential election, 1948|States' Rights Democratic Party}}

In the 1948 presidential election, Thurmond ran for president as a [[Third party (politics)|third party]] candidate for the [[States' Rights Democratic Party]], which was formed by White southern Democrats who split from the national party over the threat of federal intervention in state affairs regarding racial segregation and [[Jim Crow]] laws and practices.

Thurmond's supporters took control of the Democratic Party in the [[Deep South]]. Incumbent President [[Harry S. Truman]] was not included on the presidential ballot in [[United States presidential election in Alabama, 1948|Alabama]] because that state's [[Supreme Court of Alabama|Supreme Court]] ruled void any requirement for party electors to vote for the national nominee.<ref>Key, V.O. Jr.; ''Southern Politics in State and Nation''; p. 340 {{ISBN|087049435X}}</ref> Thurmond stated that Truman, [[Thomas Dewey]] and [[Henry A. Wallace]] would lead the U.S. to totalitarianism.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/08/12/archives/thurmond-hits-truman-dewey-wallace-as-leading-us-to-rocks-of.html|title=Thurmond Hits Truman, Dewey, Wallace As Leading U.S. to 'Rocks of Totalitarianism'|date=August 12, 1948|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Thurmond called civil rights initiatives dangerous to the American constitution and making the country susceptible to communism in the event of their enactment,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/10/14/archives/thurmond-says-foes-yield-to-the-pinks.html|title=Thurmond Says Foes Yield to 'the Pinks|date=October 14, 1948|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> challenging Truman to a debate on the issue.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/10/06/archives/truman-challenged-to-thurmond-debate.html|title=Truman Challenged to Thurmond Debate|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 6, 1948}}</ref> Thurmond carried four states and received 39 electoral votes, but was unable to stop Truman's re-election.

During the campaign, Thurmond said the following in a speech met with loud cheers by his assembled supporters: {{audio|Strom Thurmond 1948 Speech Clip.ogg|listen}}

{{blockquote|I wanna tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the [[wikt:nigra#Noun|Nigra]] race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.{{efn|Standard accounts of the speech render "Nigra" as "[[Negro]]" or "[[nigger]]".}}<ref name="Noah"/>}}