Senator Strom Thurmond spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes nonstop in an attempt to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1957!

A filibuster in the U.S. is basically the ability a senator or group of senators has to speak as long as they want concerning any topic they want. This is done to delay or prevent a vote from happening to pass something that they don’t want passed. It extends the debate on the topic, but they can actually talk about anything they want. Three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn can bring the debate to a close by invoking cloture. 

Cloture is simply a vote to bring a debate to an end. In 1953, a record was set for the longest filibuster recorded in the U.S. Senator Wayne Morse spoke for 22 hours and 26 minutes in protest to the Tidelands Oil legislation. That record was broken in 1957, when Senator Strom Thurmond spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes nonstop to filibuster the Civil Rights Act. As impressive and long as it was, the Civil Rights Act ultimately passed anyways. They can’t say Thurmond didn’t try.

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