presidential bid as a Dixiecrat. Six years later, Thurmond ran as a Democrat and was elected to the Senate as the junior senator from South Carolina in a write-in campaign. Thurmond's political candidacies were largely based on his opposition to racial integration. An agreement among the Southern senators to not stage an organized filibuster had been reached in Senator Richard Russell's office on August 24, four days before Thurmond's speech. Thurmond's departure from the senators' agreement was later criticized by party leaders including Russell and Herman Talmadge. Filibuster The filibuster began at 8:54p.m. on August 28, 1957, with a reading of the election laws of each of the 48 states, and continued with readings from U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, and George Washington's Farewell Address. The Senate chamber gallery, filled with hundreds of spectators at the beginning of the filibuster, dwindled to just NAACP lobbyist Clarence Mitchell Jr. and Thurmond's wife Jean at points during the early morning hours. On the morning of the 29th, Thurmond's voice dropped to a mumble and his tone became increasingly monotonous. Republican leader William Knowland from California requested around midday that Thurmond speak up so he could be sure no motions were being made, but Thurmond responded by suggesting that the senator move closer. Knowland remained where he was. At approximately 1p.m., Thurmond yielded to allow for the swearing-in of William Proxmire, who had been elected following the death of Joseph McCarthy, after which he resumed his speech. Thurmond was also allowed breaks throughout the day by other senators, including some in support of the bill, when they questioned him at length. Thurmond concluded his filibuster after 24 hours and 18 minutes at 9:12p.m. on August 29, making it the longest filibuster ever conducted in the Senate . This surpassed the previous record set by Wayne Morse, who spoke against the Submerged Lands Act for 22 hours and 26 minutes in 1953. Teams of Congressional stenographers worked together to record the speech for the Congressional Record, which ultimately consumed 96 pages in the Record and cost over $7,000 in printing costs ($ in dollars). Logistics Thurmond's filibuster has been described by historian and biographer Joseph Crespino as "kind of a urological mystery". Thurmond took regular steam baths leading up to the filibuster to draw fluids out of his body, thus dehydrating himself and allowing himself to absorb fluids