WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., was conscious and apparently alert as he was escorted from the Senate floor in a wheelchair Tuesday morning, after collapsing in the Senate chamber.
Thurmond waived to police officers from the wheelchair after being whisked off the Senate floor minutes after the spell took place.
Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a heart surgeon, was in a nearby meeting and came to Thurmond's aid in seconds and opened Thurmond's shirt, witnesses said.
One member of Frist's staff said their boss did not have to perform CPR, and that Thurmond had a "strong grip" before leaving the Senate. Another Frist aide said Thurmond's pulse was "strong" just before leaving in the wheelchair, after suffering what the aide described as a "fainting spell."
Thurmond, 98, has had a series of ailments over the past year, including dehydration that has required limited hospitalization.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., immediately ordered the Senate chamber be cleared when Thurmond collapsed, and barred the press.
Political observers have watched his health closely, particularly in a Senate split among 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and one Independent.
South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, a Democrat, would appoint a replacement for Thurmond if he were forced to leave his seat for any reason. Thurmond has said he would not seek re-election in 2002.
Thurmond is considered one of the most enduring and conservative figures in American politics after first being elected to the South Carolina House as a Democrat in 1932. In June 1944, he parachuted into Normandy after receiving an exemption because he was over age.
In 1957, Thurmond filibustered over 24 hours against a civil rights bill, and he became a Republican after switching parties in 1964 to support Barry Goldwater.
In March 1996, at 93, Thurmond became the oldest person ever to serve in Congress and he is the longest-serving senator in U.S. history.
