Born: December 5, 1902

Died: June 26, 2003 aged 100

High of His Life: Being a raging racist the 20th century was probably a hard time for Senator Strom Thurmond. But oh those early years probably felt glorious. He fought against civil rights repetitively throughout the decades of his frighteningly illustrious political career. He also was able to remake the Republican party into his own hyper-racist image, and as a result created ‘The Southern Strategy,’ a tool that was used as recently as 2008, though of course it failed there. (Pretty big time, ol’ Strom was probably turning in his grave over that election.)

Either way, he managed to be reelected for 47 years! He was basically a mummy by the time he retired.

Low of His Life: Like I said, being a racist in the 20th century was rough. Civil rights got through, advanced through out his political career, and as a result, ol’ Strom started looking like a real d-bag. After his death it was discovered that maybe the good Senator wasn’t so racist after all. He maybe had a flavor for chocolate and even had a daughter in that flavor. Real nice, Strom.

Who Sees Him as a Hero: A large number of southern white men who are not “racist,” they just “worry about the direction the country is going.”