Turning 85 Puts Thurmond in a Fighting Mood

Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) celebrated his 85th birthday a day early Friday, and the gifts included a pair of bright red boxer shorts and the “Spuds MacKenzie” beer mascot he recently criticized on the Senate floor.

At a birthday party attended by senators, Cabinet members and high government officials in the ornate Senate Caucus Room, Thurmond hinted that he would run for another term in 1990 and told the crowd: “I expect to live to 120.”

The Senate also celebrated the event, unanimously approving legislation naming the Clarks Hill dam and reservoir, on the South Carolina-Georgia border, for the senator.

Thurmond has said that he lifts weights and does calisthenics every day and that his age should not be a factor in whether he runs again.

Second Oldest Senator

Thurmond, first elected to the Senate in 1954 on a write-in ballot, is the second oldest senator. The oldest is John C. Stennis (D-Miss.), one of the guests at the reception and a year older than Thurmond. Stennis has said he will not seek reelection.

The senator’s four children presented him with the boxer shorts and the “Spuds MacKenzie” doll. Last month, Thurmond--a teetotaler--waved one of the dolls in the Senate chamber, accusing the alcohol beverage industry of encouraging drinking among youngsters.

Anheuser-Busch uses the bull terrier for its Bud Light beer promotional campaign.

Thurmond, wearing a bright red vest, received a letter of congratulations from President Reagan, who said he rarely has the chance “of sending greetings to someone with more years of wisdom” than he has.

Guests included the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Vernon A. Walters; Secretary of State George P. Shultz, and Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III.