Thurmond Honored on His 100th

WASHINGTON —  Strom Thurmond, the nation’s oldest and longest-serving senator, reached his 100th birthday Thursday surrounded by family, friends, Supreme Court justices and leaders of the Senate he helped to reshape.

The Senate is a family, said former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) at a Capitol Hill birthday celebration, “and today the family assembles to honor its patriarch.”

Hundreds of friends and supporters, many of whom had driven through a snowstorm from Thurmond’s home state of South Carolina to attend, cheered as his two sons and daughter blew out candles on a red-white-and-blue cake. Daughter Julie announced she was pregnant, which will make Thurmond, who first became a father at age 68, a grandfather for the first time.

Thurmond is retiring with the end of this session of Congress, having served for 48 years.

Frail and in a wheelchair, Thurmond appeared moved by his daughter’s announcement and the event in his honor.

“Live a long time and enjoy the time,” he told the gathering.

Organizers said seven of the nine Supreme Court justices -- minus Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas -- attended the event, as did incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and several members of the Bush Cabinet.

Referring to Thurmond’s reputation as a lady’s man, a Marilyn Monroe impersonator sang “Happy Birthday to You” to the senator, much as Monroe did at a party in 1962 for President Kennedy. Thurmond looked up and smiled when Lott said that his 89-year-old mother had a crush on him.

Thurmond served as chairman of the Judiciary and Armed Services Committee, but his career was marked more by his hard work in fulfilling the needs of his constituents.

“My dad was a Democrat,” said Republican Rep. Lindsey O. Graham, who next month will move into Thurmond’s Senate seat. “But if there was anything we needed there was no hesitation who we would call -- Strom Thurmond.”

In Edgefield, a town of 2,500 in the western part of South Carolina, low temperatures forced celebrations into a gym instead of the town square with its life-sized monument to Thurmond.

Schoolchildren sported the number 100 painted on their cheeks or hands and 100 red, white and blue cupcakes were baked for the youngsters.