R.I.P. Fritz Hollings

[DFW]

A product of his time as a South Carolina Democrat, he oversaw school desegregation while SC Governor, and he treated me nicely as a 15 year old kid when I was working in the US Senate, and as a 60 year old Democrat abroad when we next met forty-five years later.

I'm sure there's plenty of votes he made in the Senate that would be viewed as nasty with the light of today's consciousness shown upon them, especially his wrong Supreme Court nominee votes, but he was about as good as South Carolina could have hoped for in his time. He was a hell of a lot better than Lindsey Graham, THAT's for sure!

Fritz Hollings was 97.

[Hekate]

1. RIP, Fritz Hollings. I do remember the name

Thank you for the reminiscences.

[DFW]

2. I only met the guy a couple of times

And like I said, he was a product of his time (he was 97). But for a prominent South Carolina politician, he took some daring positions for his time.

[empedocles]

3. I remember the storie of Fritz and Sperm Thurmond.

Thurmond kept saying to Fritz, you don't have to make all those [fund-raising] calls all the time. Come over to my ['con] side. The money just naturally flows into your office.

Fitz had some principles.

[GoCubsGo]

4. Awww, geez!

He was the last person in this hellhole of a state who ever actually represented me. I didn't care for all of his votes, but for the most part, he was fairly progressive by South Carolina standards. Yes. He was infinitely better that Lindsay Graham. And, Tim Scott, for that matter. Rest in Peace, Senator Hollings.

[Gothmog]

5. May he rest in peace

[WVGal1963]

6. With Fond Memories

I, too, remember Senator Hollings being a thoughtful and gracious man when I worked in the US Senate as a page. He knew our names, and would often just stop and chat with us. He was so well regarded on both sides of the aisle. Your post flooded my mind with memories of those days when D and R Senators would refer to one another as “My esteemed colleague from ________”........., and the like. Shaking my head at the nastiness that is so pervasive now.

Thank you DFW for your post. And thank you Senator Hollings for your level, steadfast and diplomatic approach to your lifetime of public service. Rest peacefully, kind sir. May we all have a life so well lived.

[Raine]

7. R-I-P Fritz

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. Fritz was a trip.

He was a nice man but he did not mince words either.

My favorite memory of him happened right after Hurricane Hugo. FEMA was being slow and unhelpful as usual. He called them “bureaucratic jackasses.” He had that thick Charleston accent. I’m sure people wondered what country he came from.

I am positive he would have had a word or two with Lindsey. I can imagine what he would call Trump.

RIP Fritz. Ya done good. We will miss you.