Lott resigns as US Senate majority leader
Bowing to pressure from his fellow senators and the White House, Republican Trent Lott resigned his position as US Senate majority leader today.
Lott, 61, had been under fire for racially tinged comments he made earlier this month when he expressed regret that Senator Strom Thurmond lost the presidential race of 1948.
Thurmond, a fellow Southerner from the state of South Carolina, had run on a platform advocating the segregation of whites and blacks.
“In the interest of pursuing the best possible agenda for the future of our country, I will not seek to remain as majority leader of the United States Senate for the 108th Congress, effective January 6, 2003,” Lott said in a written statement.
“To all those who offered me their friendship, support and prayers, I will be eternally grateful. I will continue to serve the people of Mississippi in the United States Senate.”
With Lott’s departure, the only declared candidate for his post so far has been Tennessee Senator Bill Frist, a close ally of President George Bush. Frist, who made his candidacy known last night, has so far garnered public support from at least seven senators.
But Republican Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania were considered possible rivals for the job.
The 51 Republican senators who will serve in the next Congress plan to meet on January 6 to decide who their next leader will be.
