Strom Thurmond to remain hospitalized for dehydration

May 10, 2000
Web posted at: 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Strom Thurmond, the eight-term Republican senator from South Carolina, was expected to spend a second night at a Washington hospital on Wednesday, after being admitted for treatment of an upset stomach and dehydration.

Thurmond on the campaign trail; the Senator celebrates his 95th birthday in Washington, D.C.

Thurmond, 97, the oldest serving senator in U.S. history, will remain at Walter Reed Army Hospital overnight as a precautionary measure, according to his spokeswoman, Genevieve Erney.

"He's in a fine mood, as well as you can be when you're in the hospital," Erney said.

Thurmond, who convened a hearing Tuesday morning and then attended about a half-dozen appointments, checked himself into Walter Reed later in the day after complaining of an upset stomach.

The South Carolina senator was hospitalized several times last year for prostate and dehydration problems.

Thurmond, who ran for president in 1948 as a "Dixiecrat," is the Senate's longest serving member. He was first elected in 1954.