And Trent lott was 7 years old when Thurmond ran for the Presidency.
When Lott first got to know Stom, lott was about 40 and Strom was near 80. Strom had been in the senate for over 30 years. He took lott under his wing and trained him like a son to take over leadership some day.
In many respects Strom was like a second father to Lott. There has been for many years a father son like relationship between Strom and Trent.
Strom is 39 years older than Trent and Trent has always looked up to Strom. Strom was active in government when Roosevelt, Truman, Stalin, and Churchill were the big players. It is heady stuff to be mentored by such a man.
If you understand how Lott felt about Stom you can undersand why he said what he said.