Robert Byrd

Robert Byrd
United States Senate · Public domain · source
Name	Robert Byrd
Caption	Byrd in 2003
Office	President pro tempore of the United States Senate
Term start	January 3, 1989
Term end	January 3, 1995
Predecessor	John C. Stennis
Successor	Strom Thurmond
Office2	Senate Majority Leader
Term start2	January 3, 1977
Term end2	January 3, 1981
Predecessor2	Mike Mansfield
Successor2	Howard Baker
Office3	Senate Minority Leader
Term start3	January 3, 1981
Term end3	January 3, 1987
Predecessor3	Howard Baker
Successor3	Bob Dole
State4	West Virginia
Term start4	January 3, 1959
Term end4	June 28, 2010
Predecessor4	Chapman Revercomb
Successor4	Carte Goodwin
State5	West Virginia
District5	6th
Term start5	January 3, 1953
Term end5	January 3, 1959
Predecessor5	E. H. Hedrick
Successor5	John M. Slack Jr.
Birth name	Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.
Birth date	November 20, 1917
Birth place	North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Death date	June 28, 2010 (aged 92)
Death place	Falls Church, Virginia
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Erma Ora James, 1937, 2006
Alma mater	Marshall University, American University, University of Charleston
Occupation	Politician, lawyer

Robert Byrd was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the longest-serving U.S. Senator in history at the time of his passing and held numerous leadership positions, including Senate Majority Leader and President pro tempore of the United States Senate. Byrd was renowned for his mastery of Senate procedure and his fierce advocacy for his home state, directing billions of federal dollars to its infrastructure and institutions, though his career was also marked by early involvement with the Ku Klux Klan and opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Early life and education

Born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr. in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Stotesbury, West Virginia, following his mother's death, and was renamed Robert Carlyle Byrd. He graduated from Mark Twain High School and worked as a butcher and welder before entering politics. Byrd earned his law degree from American University in 1963 while serving in the United States Congress, having previously attended Marshall University and the Beckley College. His early education was sporadic, but he was a voracious lifelong reader, with a particular passion for Roman history and the United States Constitution.

Political career

Byrd's political career began in the West Virginia House of Delegates, where he served from 1947 to 1950. He was then elected to the West Virginia Senate before winning a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1952, representing West Virginia's 6th congressional district. In 1958, he successfully challenged incumbent Republican Senator Chapman Revercomb to win election to the United States Senate, where he would remain for the rest of his life. During his early years in the United States Congress, he was a staunch conservative Democrat and formed alliances with powerful Southern senators like Richard Russell Jr..

Senate leadership and tenure

Byrd quickly ascended the leadership ladder within the Senate Democratic Caucus, serving as Secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference and later as Senate Majority Whip under Mike Mansfield. He was elected Senate Majority Leader in 1977, leading the chamber during the administration of President Jimmy Carter. After the Republicans gained control of the Senate in the 1980 elections, he served as Senate Minority Leader until 1987. He later held the largely ceremonial but constitutionally significant office of President pro tempore of the United States Senate on four separate occasions, placing him third in the United States presidential line of succession.

Legislative accomplishments

A self-described "big spender" for West Virginia, Byrd used his mastery of the appropriations process to direct federal projects to his state, a practice often called "pork barrel" spending. He was instrumental in securing funds for numerous highways, federal buildings, and research centers, notably the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division complex in Clarksburg, West Virginia. A constitutional scholar, he fiercely defended the prerogatives of the United States Congress against executive encroachment, authoring a four-volume history of the Senate. He was a key figure in the debate authorizing the Gulf War and later became a vocal critic of the Iraq War.

Controversies and criticism

The most enduring controversy of his career was his early membership in the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s, which he later called his "greatest mistake." As a member of the United States House of Representatives, he filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for over 14 hours and voted against the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court of the United States. He later expressed profound regret for these positions, stating his views had changed, and earned perfect scores from the NAACP in his later years. His aggressive use of appropriations for West Virginia also drew criticism from government watchdog groups like Citizens Against Government Waste.

Personal life and legacy

He married Erma Ora James in 1937, and they remained together until her death in 2006; they had two daughters. A devout Baptist, he was known to carry a copy of the Holy Bible in his pocket. Byrd was a skilled fiddler and recorded an album of mountain music. He died in 2010 at the age of 92 in Falls Church, Virginia. His legacy is complex, remembered both for his transformative impact on West Virginia's infrastructure through projects like the Robert C. Byrd Highway and the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, and for his early segregationist past. The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope and numerous educational institutions bear his name.

Category:1917 births Category:2010 deaths Category:United States Senators from West Virginia