Politics

Don't Bury Strom Yet

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 21, 2001 / 3:56 PM EST / CBS

Ninety-eight-year-old Strom Thurmond says he's feeling "excellent."

His health is watched daily by both Republicans and Democrats. If Thurmond, the longtime Republican senator, were to resign or die, his successor would be named by South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, a Democrat.

With the Senate split 50-50 between the two parties, a shift of one seat would change the balance of power in the chamber.

"So it's important for me to stay on," Thurmond tells CBS News Correspondent Phil Jones.

Thurmond is the oldest-ever member of Congress and the longest-serving senator, first elected in 1954. It's his frailty and visible moments of confusion that fuel speculation that he's near the end. Recently, he forgot Senate procedure and opened the Senate with the pledge of allegiance, instead of a prayer.

The Republican leadership has urged Thurmond to take it easier and avoid too much stress.

But Thurmond can also have his good days, like the one when he took the oath to be the Senate president pro tempore, which puts him third in the line of succession to the White House.

Asked by the clerk whether "you will well and faithfully execute the duties of the office you are about to enter," Thurmond didn't miss a beat. "I do and always have," he replied, drawing smiles and laughter from his colleagues.

With aides at his side, Thurmond has made it to the Senate floor for every vote this year. But, his chairs in committee hearings have been empty far more than they used to be.

Still, Thurmond dismisses those who say he's not going to finish out his term.

"Yeah, they got me one foot in the grave," he says. "They're all wrong, they're all wrong. I'll out live all of 'em."

And that's just fine with some of the visiting constituents from back home, who've dropped by the senator's office to get a picture.

"If you're from South Carolina, you do not want to have a senator who's not Sen. Thurmond," says constituent Jan Sprinkle.

Research shows a man Thurmond's age has a 50-50 chance of surviving two more years. And on this day, any predictions of Strom's end would be greatly exaggerated.