Thursday letters: Haley should learn from Thurmond

Good leaders learn the art of compromise to lead their people forward.

As a young man in Jaycees, I had the honor of driving to the Charlotte airport to greet Sen. Strom Thurmond and to return him after his speech to the airport for his flight back to Washington. He confided to me that he was wrong about segregation, but as a leader had to be ahead somewhat of the people he led; he said he had learned to compromise more as he got older. He is the greatest politician South Carolina has produced in my lifetime, and he always remembered my name after that meeting. I miss and love the man today.

Our infrastructure in South Carolina is crumbling before our eyes. I hope Gov. Nikki Haley will compromise and accept the House plan to help our citizens. I met her as a young girl growing up in Bamberg, and she knows that there is much poverty there as well as in the Palmetto State in general. She should consider extending Medicaid to those who need it and do something to remove the Confederate flag from the State House grounds so the NCAA boycott will be lifted.

Columbia

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Thursday letters: Haley should learn from Thurmond."