Last week, Sen. Wendy Davis (D) filibustered for 11-hours to help defeat the controversial anti-abortion bill that would severely cut access to abortions in the state. Filibustering has been a part of politics since at least the time of the Roman Republic. This 2,000-year old tradition entered American politics with the first filibuster on the Senate floor in 1837. Since then, Senators have made history by filibustering for hours on end, attempting to delay or prevent a vote on a bill they oppose. Here are six other filibusters that made history, in chronological order.
1917: Woodrow Wilson urged Senate to adopt cloture after anti-war filibuster
When 12 anti-war senators managed to stop a bill through filibustering, President Wilson suggested that the Senate adopt “cloture,” a measure that would allow a vote to end a filibuster. Under the new rule, a two-thirds vote in favor of a cloture motion would be enough to end one. A two-thirds majority vote is not always easy to get, and while the number of motions for cloture has increased, especially since the 1970s, many of them are unsuccessful.
1946: Dennis Chavez removed his bill due to endless filibustering
Filibustering is usually nothing more than a delay tactic, one that holds up voting on a bill but doesn’t prevent it entirely. However, in 1946 Dennis Chavez (D-NM) found that despite having enough votes to pass a bill he proposed that would prevent workplace discrimination, he had to withdraw the bill entirely. Southern senators filibustered for weeks to debate the measure, and a cloture motion failed to end the filibuster.
1957: Strom Thurmond filibusters for more than a full day
South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, a Democrat at the time of his filibuster (he later became a Republican in 1964), still holds the record for longest individual filibuster, at an incredible 24 hours and 18 minutes. A staunch segregationist, he opposed the bill which would ensure voting rights for all. Thurmond passed the time by reading things including state election laws and the country’s founding documents.
1964: Senator Robert Byrd’s filibuster ends when cloture invoked
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a watershed bill that outlawed discrimination and afforded equal protection to people of all colors. But some people weren’t having it. Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia filibustered for 14 hours and 13 minutes, following other Democrats who also wished to block the bill. The filibuster was ended when the Senate invoked cloture for just the second time in nearly 40 years.
2012: Senator Mitch McConnell “self-filibustered”
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made history – and was widely disparaged in the media for it – when he filibustered his own proposal in December 2012. McConnell was not expecting the Democrats to agree to his proposal to vote on raising the debt ceiling, and felt compelled to filibuster to stall the vote.
2013: Senator Rand Paul: Nature called him away from the floor
In March of this year, the Kentucky Republican filibustered for 12 hours and 52 minutes in order to delay a vote that would confirm John Brennan as director of the CIA. Paul would have gone on longer, but found he couldn’t. “I discovered there are some limits to filibustering,” he said. Makes you wonder how Strom Thurmond lasted more than 24 hours.
