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Robert Byrd

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Robert C. Byrd
Senior Senator, West Virginia
In office
January 1959–present
Preceded byW. Chapman Revercomb
Succeeded byIncumbent (2007)
Personal details
Nationalityamerican
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseErma Ora Byrd (deceased)
Wikiquote has quotations related to Robert Byrd.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Byrd.

Robert Carlyle Byrd (born November 20, 1917 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina), a Democrat, is West Virginia's senior United States Senator. As of 2006, he is the longest-serving current member of the U.S. Congress, having served in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 1953, until he entered the Senate on January 3, 1959. Additionally, Byrd is the longest serving member of the United States Senate in American History, serving 47 years (see below). Including his time as a West Virginia state legislator from 1947 to 1953, Byrd has served as an elected official for over 60 years and has never lost an election. At 89 Byrd is the oldest member of Congress. Some call Byrd a "walking encyclopedia" on the history of both the American and Roman senates. Byrd was married to his high school sweetheart Erma Ora James Byrd for 68 years until her death on March 26, 2006.

Byrd is the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, of which he has been a member since his first Senate term. Byrd chaired the committee while serving as president pro tempore of the Senate, a position that placed him third in the line of presidential succession and that he held as the longest-serving Democrat in the Senate from 1989 to 1995, briefly in January 2001, and again from June 2001 to January 2003. Byrd now serves as President pro tempore emeritus of the Senate Democratic caucus.

Byrd is currently serving his eighth six-year term in the Senate, which ends on January 3, 2007. He became the longest serving Senator in American history on June 12, 2006, passing Strom Thurmond of South Carolina with 17,327 days of service in the upper body of the Congress [1]. He already held the record for the longest unbroken tenure in the Senate (Thurmond served 48 years, but stepped down from April to November 1956). Byrd announced on September 27, 2005 at the State House in Charleston that he is running for an unprecedented ninth term in 2006. Should he be re-elected and continue to serve through 2011, he will pass Carl Hayden of Arizona as the longest-serving member of both houses of Congress. Hayden served in the House from 1912 to 1927 and in the Senate from 1927 to 1969, a total of 57 years in both chambers. If Byrd wins reelection and serves the full term, he will have served 60 years and he will be 96 years of age, which would make him the second oldest senator in US history after Thurmond. Byrd has cast a total of 17,673 votes as of June 16, 2006 — the most of any senator in United States history [2]. Byrd is also known for having amassed one of the largest number of placenames in the history of Congress.

Early life and political career

File:Byrd-fiddler.jpg
Byrd always enjoyed playing the fiddle.

Byrd was born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr. in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1917. When he was one year old, his mother died in the 1918 Flu Pandemic. In accordance with his mother's wishes, his father dispersed the family children among relatives. Sale Jr. was given to the custody of an aunt and an uncle, Vlurma and Titus Byrd, who renamed him Robert Byrd and raised him in the coal-mining region of southern West Virginia. His parents inculcated Byrd in "the typical southern viewpoint of the time," Byrd has written. "Blacks were generally distrusted by many whites, and I suspect they were subliminally feared." [3] Byrd graduated as valedictorian of his high school class and, in 1937, married his high school sweetheart Erma Ora. It was twelve years before he could afford to go to college. He eventually attended Beckley College (now Mountain State University), Concord College (now Concord University), Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston), and Marshall College (now Marshall University, all in West Virginia). He worked as a gas-station attendant, grocery-store clerk, shipyard welder, and butcher before he won a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1946, representing Raleigh County. He served there from 1947 to 1950, then served in the West Virginia Senate from 1951 to 1952. After taking a decade of night classes while in Congress, he graduated from American University's Washington College of Law in 1963. He has two daughters, Mona and Marjorie, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Participation in the Ku Klux Klan

In the early 1940s, when Byrd was approximately 24 years old, he joined the Ku Klux Klan, which he had seen holding parades in Matoaka, West Virginia, as a child, his father having also been a Klan member[4]. Byrd was unanimously elected as the Exalted Cyclops of his local chapter. [5] Byrd, in his autobiography, attributed the beginnings of his political career to this incident, though he lamented that they involved the Klan. According to Byrd's recollection, Baskin told him, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." Byrd recalls that "suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities. I was only 23 or 24, and the thought of a political career had never struck me. But strike me that night, it did." [6] The KKK was seen as a stepping stone for aspiring southern politicians — one of the reasons attributed to Byrd's membership. [1] [2]

He participated in the KKK for a period of time during World War II, holding the titles "Kleagle", which indicated a Klan recruiter, and "Exalted Cyclops." Byrd did not serve in the military during the war, working instead as a welder in a Baltimore shipyard, assembling warships.

When running for Congress in 1952, he announced, "After about a year, I became disinterested, quit paying my dues, and dropped my membership in the organization. During the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan." During this campaign, "Byrd went on the radio to acknowledge that he belonged to the Klan from 'mid-1942 to early 1943,' according to newspaper accounts. He explained that he had joined 'because it offered excitement and because it was strongly opposed to communism.' " ibid.

Byrd has also referred to his Klan membership as a mistake of his youth. In 1997, he told an interviewer he'd encourage young people to become involved in politics, but: "Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don't get that albatross around your neck. Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena."

In his latest autobiography, Byrd explained that he was a member because he "was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision — a jejune and immature outlook — seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions." [3]

Congressional service

In 1952, after Sixth District Congressman E.H. Hedrick decided to step down and run for governor, Byrd was elected to succeed him. He was reelected to the House twice. Then in 1958 he defeated Republican Senator W. Chapman Revercomb. He has been reelected to the Senate seven times and is the longest serving Senator in United States history. While he faced some vigorous Republican opposition in the past, he has not faced truly serious opposition since freshman congressman Cleve Benedict took a run at him in 1982. Even when facing well-funded Republican opponents, he has always won by a large margin. Amazingly, despite his tremendous popularity in the state, he has only run unopposed once, in 1976. On two other occasions — in 1994 and 2000 — he carried all 55 of West Virginia's counties. In his last reelection bid, in 2000, he won all but seven of West Virginia's precincts. Shelley Moore Capito, who currently represents the 2nd Congressional District, briefly weighed a challenge to Byrd in 2006, but decided against it. Ironically, Capito, who is the daughter of one of Byrd's longtime foes, former governor Arch Moore, Jr., now represents much of the territory Byrd represented in the House.

After a decade of night classes and Congressional sessions, Byrd finally earned his law degree from American University in 1963. The ceremony's guest speaker, President John F. Kennedy presented the diploma.

In the 1960 Presidential election primaries, Byrd, a close ally of Lyndon B. Johnson, then Senate Majority Leader, tried to derail the Democratic front-runner and ultimately successful candidate John F. Kennedy in the crucial West Virginia primary.

Byrd later joined with other southern Democrats to oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — a move he came to regret. Byrd filibustered the bill for more than 14 hours, saying it abrogated principles of federalism. He also opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

In 1969 Byrd launched a Scholastic Recognition Award and began presenting a savings bond to valedictorians from West Virginia's public and private high schools. In 1985 Congress approved the nation's only merit-based scholarship program funded through the U.S. Department of Education, which Congress later named in Byrd's honor. Originally, the Robert C. Byrd National Honors Scholarship consisted of a one-year, $1,500 award to students who demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and who had been accepted for enrollment at an institution of higher learning. In 1993, the program was expanded to provide four-year scholarships, making students who receive the first-year scholarship eligible to apply for stipends for the following three years.

Byrd has been a member of the Democratic leadership since 1967, when he was elected as secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference (caucus). He became Senate Majority Whip, or the second-ranking Democrat, in 1971. From 1977 to 1989 Byrd was the leader of the Senate Democrats, serving as Senate Majority Leader from 1977-81 and 1987-89 and as Senate Minority Leader from 1981-87.

Byrd's ability to steer federal dollars to West Virginia, the nation's second poorest state (behind only Mississippi) has been remarkably effective — even before he became chairman of the Appropriations Committee in 1989. When he became chairman of the committee, he sought to steer, over time, a total of $1 billion for public works to West Virginia. He passed that mark in 1991, and the steady streams of funds for highways, dams, educational institutions, and federal agency offices has progressed unabated in the last 16 years (eight as chairman and eight as ranking minority member). More than thirty pending or existing federal projects bear Byrd's name. He is close friends with Ted Stevens (R-AK), with whom he alternated as chairman of the committee from 1995 to 2001. Stevens is also legendary for sending federal money back to his home state. Their relationship has been strained in recent years, however, over Byrd's recent stands on U.S. foreign policy.

Byrd is also known for using his knowledge of parliamentary procedure. Before the "Reagan Revolution," Byrd frustrated Republicans with his encyclopedic knowledge of the inner workings of the Senate. From 1977–79 he was described as "performing a procedural tap dance around the minority, outmaneuvering Republicans with his mastery of the Senate's arcane rules." [citation needed]

File:Byrdarwork.jpg
Byrd at work in his Washington office.

As the longest-serving Democrat in the Senate, Byrd was President pro Tempore of the Senate from 1989 until the Republicans won control of the Senate in 1995. When the Senate was evenly split between parties after the 2000 elections, Byrd was president pro tempore again briefly in 2001, when outgoing Vice President Al Gore's tiebreaking vote temporarily gave the Democrats a majority. He stepped down when George W. Bush took office as president, and Vice President Dick Cheney's tiebreaking vote gave the Republicans a majority. He served as president pro tem again from June 2001 until Republicans retook the Senate in January 2003 after Senator Jim Jeffords resigned from the Republican Party to become the lone Independent in the Senate, giving control to the Democrats. During the times he served as president pro tempore he was the third person in the line of presidential succession. Byrd has served as a member of the Appropriations Committee since he was first appointed to the seat by then-Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and chaired the committee while serving as president pro tempore. He is currently the ranking Democrat on the committee. Byrd also serves as President pro tempore emeritus of the Senate Democratic caucus.

Views on race and race relations

Some have contended that Byrd's 1991 opposition to President George H. W. Bush's nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Thurgood Marshall — making Byrd the only Senator to have opposed the nomination of both of the only two black Supreme Court justices — and Byrd's 2004 opposition to some of George W. Bush's judicial and cabinet nominees who are black, notably Federal Judge Janice Rogers Brown and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was motivated by racism. Niger Innis, a conservative Republican consultant and spokesperson for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a conservative civil rights group, claimed that Byrd's hold on Rice's nomination was "racist" and said that Byrd has "black colleagues in the House and the Senate who apologize for him." [7]Byrd, however, made it clear at the time that he opposed Rice's nomination because of her role in the War in Iraq which he vehemently opposed. Byrd has not opposed other people of color that Bush has nominated in the past, voting for Secretary of Education Rod Paige and Secretary of State Colin Powell. The NAACP, one of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organizations, awarded Byrd a 100% rating in its 108th Congressional score card, based on what they consider his pro-civil rights votes. [8]

On March 4, 2001, an interview with FOX News Sunday host Tony Snow was aired. In the interview Byrd was asked about race relations: "They are much, much better than they've ever been in my lifetime," Byrd said. "I think we talk about race too much. I think those problems are largely behind us ... I just think we talk so much about it that we help to create somewhat of an illusion. I think we try to have good will. My old mom told me, 'Robert, you can't go to heaven if you hate anybody.' We practice that. There are white niggers. I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time. I'm going to use that word. We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I'd just as soon quit talking about it so much."[9]

Byrd's use of the term "nigger" created immediate controversy, although he was not challenged by Snow. "In apologizing, Byrd — the Senate's senior Democrat — said the phrase dated back to his childhood."

When asked about it, Byrd apologized for the language: " 'I apologize for the characterization I used on this program,' he said. 'The phrase dates back to my boyhood and has no place in today's society. [...] 'In my attempt to articulate strongly held feelings, I may have offended people.' "ibid

In an exclusive interview during a C-SPAN special about the U.S. Capitol, Byrd said that he regrets voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and would change it if he had the opportunity. In explanation of his vote he said, "We who were born in a southern environment...ought to get ahead of the curve and take down those [white only] signs ourselves. We shouldn't need a law to require us to do it." Byrd, however, said that he realized people were too set in their ways to integrate society on their own and therefore the Civil Rights Act became necessary. Byrd has also said that his views changed most dramatically after his teen-age grandson was killed in a 1982 traffic accident, which put him in a deep emotional valley. "The death of my grandson caused me to stop and think," said Byrd, adding he came to realize that black people love their children as much as he does his. [10] [11]

"Favorite son" presidential candidate

Main article: U.S. presidential election, 1976

In 1976, Byrd announced that he would run for president as a "favorite son" candidate, campaigning only in his home state of West Virginia. Like many Democrats, Byrd thought that perhaps if the convention were deadlocked, he could use his delegates to hold some influence in the selection of a nominee.

Every other Democrat but George Wallace stayed off the West Virginia ballot in deference to Byrd, and even Wallace didn't actively campaign in the state. Byrd won by a near 9-1 margin. However, he was never a serious candidate for the nomination. He intended to use his presidential bid as a vehicle to make himself the only viable candidate for majority leader to succeed Montana's Mike Mansfield. He already had the inside track to the position since he was majority whip. Byrd focused most of his time on campaigning for the office of majority leader, more so than for re-election to the Senate, as he was virtually unopposed for his fourth term. By the time the vote for majority leader was at hand, he had it so wrapped up that his lone rival, Minnesota's Hubert Humphrey, withdrew before the balloting took place.

Senate historian

Television cameras were first introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives on March 19, 1979, with the launch of C-SPAN. Fearing that Americans only saw the Congress as the House of Representatives, Senator Byrd became a strong advocate for introducing the Senate to television coverage. Senator Byrd believed the change was necessary to prevent the Senate from becoming the "invisible branch" of government. Thanks in part to Byrd's efforts, cameras came to the Senate floor in June 1986. To help introduce the public to the inner workings of the legislative process, Byrd launched a series of speeches based on his examination of the Roman Republic and the intent of the Framers. Byrd published a four volume series on Senate history: The Senate: 1789–1989.

For that work, the American Historical Association, presented Byrd with the first “Theodore Roosevelt–Woodrow Wilson Award for Civil Service” on January 8, 2004. The honorific award is intended to recognize individuals outside the academy “who have made a significant contribution to history.” During the 1980s, he delivered a hundred speeches on the floor dealing with various aspects of the Senate's history, which were published in four volumes as The Senate, 1789–1989: Addresses on the History of the Senate (Government Printing Office, 1989–94). The first volume of his series won the Henry Adams Prize of the Society for History in the Federal Government as "an outstanding contribution to research in the history of the Federal Government." He also published The Senate of the Roman Republic: Addresses on the History of Roman Constitutionalism (Government Printing Office, 1995). In 2001, Senator Byrd introduced legislation instituting what are now known as the "Teaching American History" or “Byrd” grants, which are designed to be used for improving the teaching of American history — as distinct from social studies — in America's public schools. Starting with a $50 million appropriation, the program, administered through the Department of Education, is currently funded at $120 million. The goal of this program is for school districts and institutions with expertise in American history to collaborate over a three-year period to help teachers develop the knowledge and skills necessary to teach traditional American history in an exciting, engaging, and effective way. [12]

Opposition to war in Iraq

In the 107th Congress, Byrd suffered some legislative defeats, particularly with respect to debates on homeland security. Byrd opposed the 2002 law creating the Homeland Security Department, saying it ceded too much authority to the executive branch. He led a filibuster against the resolution granting George W. Bush broad power to wage a "preemptive" war against Iraq, but he could not get even a majority of his own party to vote against cloture and against the resolution [13]. He also led the opposition to Bush's bid to win back the power to negotiate trade deals that Congress cannot amend, but lost overwhelmingly. But, in the 108th Congress, Byrd won his party's top seat on the new Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, positioning himself to use the subcommittee as a forum for oversight of the executive.

Byrd was one of the Senate's most outspoken critics of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the "Bush Doctrine" of unilateralism and preemptive warfare.

On March 19, 2003, when Bush ordered the invasion after receiving U.S. Congress approval, Byrd stated:

"Today I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed. Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned. Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination."

Byrd also criticized Bush for his speech declaring the "end of major combat operations" in Iraq, which Bush made on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. Byrd stated on the Senate floor:

"I do question the motives of a deskbound president who assumes the garb of a warrior for the purposes of a speech."

On October 17, 2003, Byrd delivered a speech expressing his concerns about the future of the nation and his unequivocal antipathy to Bush's policies. Referencing the Hans Christian Andersen children's tale The Emperor's New Clothes, Byrd said of the president: "the emperor has no clothes." Byrd further lamented the "sheep-like" behavior of the "cowed Members of this Senate" and called on them to oppose the continuation of a "war based on falsehoods."

File:7394776.jpg
Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency

Byrd condemned what he saw as the stifling of dissent and the marginalization of the legislature: "The right to ask questions, debate, and dissent is under attack. The drums of war are beaten ever louder in an attempt to drown out those who speak of our predicament in stark terms. Even in the Senate, our history and tradition of being the world's greatest deliberative body is being snubbed. This huge spending bill — $87 billion — has been rushed through this chamber in just one month. There were just three open hearings by the Senate Appropriations Committee on $87 billion — $87 for every minute since Jesus Christ was born — $87 billion without a single outside witness called to challenge the administration's line." Byrd ended his speech by repeating a famous quote from the Nuremberg Diary by G. M. Gilbert. In the passage, Gilbert interviews Nazi war criminal Herman Goering.

Byrd had a cameo role as a Confederate general in the Warner Brothers film Gods and Generals (2003).

In July 2004, Byrd released the book Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency about the Bush presidency and the war in Iraq.

Of the more than 17,000 votes he has cast as a Senator, Byrd says he is proudest of his vote against the Iraq war resolution. [14] Byrd has said he is opposed to the establishment of a timetable to withdraw American forces, however.

"The Gang of 14"

On May 23, 2005, Byrd was one of fourteen Senators to forge a compromise on the use of the judicial filibuster, thus securing up and down votes for the judicial nominees and ending the need for a "nuclear option". Under the agreement, the senators would retain the power to filibuster a judicial nominee in only an "extraordinary circumstance". It ensured that the appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate.

Voting record

Byrd is considered one of the more moderate Democrats in the Senate, despite his long tenure in the Democratic leadership. He has a reputation for putting the interests of the Senate and his home state above those of his party.

On occasion, Byrd disagreed with President Bill Clinton's policies. Byrd initially said that the impeachment proceedings against Clinton should be taken seriously and conducted completely. Although he harshly criticized any attempt to make light of it, he made the motion to dismiss the charges against the president and effectively suspend proceedings. Even though he voted against both articles of impeachment, he was the sole Democrat to vote for the censure of Clinton [15]. He strongly opposed Clinton's 1993 efforts to allow gays to serve in the military and has also supported efforts to limit gay marriage. His stance on the Federal Marriage Amendment is laced with contradictions, Byrd has been quoted as saying, "I do not believe it is necessary to amend the U.S. Constitution to address this issue. States such as West Virginia already have the power to ban gay marriages. State marriage laws should not be undermined by the federal government. Thus, our goal should not be to lessen the power of the several states to define marriage, but to preserve that right by expressly validating the role that they have played in this arena for more than two hundred years."[16] However, when the FMA came to the Senate floor he was one of the two Democratic Senators who voted in favor of it.[17] He also opposes affirmative action, and takes a moderately conservative position on abortion.

In the NAACP's Congressional Report Card for the 108th Congress (spanning the 2003–2004 congressional session), Byrd was awarded with an approval rating of 100% for favoring the NAACP's position in all 33 bills presented to the United States Senate regarding issues of their concern. Only 16 other Senators of the same session matched this approval rating. In June 2005, Byrd proposed an additional $10 million in federal funding for the Martin Luther King memorial in Washington, DC, remarking that "With the passage of time, we have come to learn that his Dream was the American Dream, and few ever expressed it more eloquently."

This year, Byrd received 67% rating from the ACLU for supporting rights-related legislation [18]. Byrd also received a 65% vote rating from the League of Conservation Voters for his support of environmentally friendly legislation. [19] Additionally, he received a "liberal" rating of 65.5% by the National Journal—higher than six other Democratic senators. [20]

He also voiced praise for George W. Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Likewise, Byrd supported the confirmation of Samuel Alito to replace retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Like most Democrats, however, Byrd opposes Bush's tax cuts and his proposals to change the Social Security program.

Byrd is opposed to the Flag Desecration Amendment, saying that, while he wants to protect the American flag, he believed that amending the constitution "is not the most expeditious way to protect this revered symbol of our Republic." In response to the amendment, Byrd has cosponsored S. 1370, a bill that prohibits destruction or desecration of the flag by anyone trying to incite violence or causing a breach of the peace. It also provides that anyone who steals, damages, or destroys a flag on federal property, whether a flag owned by the federal government or a private group or individual, can be imprisoned for up to two years, or can be fined up to $250,000, or both. [21]

Current Senate committee appointments

File:Byrdincom.gif
Byrd sitting on the Committee on Appropriations, a position he has held his entire Senate career.
Byrd was appointed to the Appropriations Committee by then-Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson when he first came to the Senate in 1959.

2006 re-election campaign

Main article: West Virginia United States Senate election, 2006

After several major Republican figures in the state decided not to run against Byrd, the Republican party convinced John Raese to run for this seat. Raese is the owner of radio stations and a newspaper in West Virginia. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1984 against then Governor Jay Rockefeller. In 1988, he ran against Governor Arch Moore for the Republican nomination and lost.

Raese won the May 2006 primary with 58% of the vote, defeating five other candidates. A subsequent May 2006 poll showed Byrd ahead by a 57–34 margin against Raese.

Byrd's Congressional election results

All election results are from the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. [22]

Year Office Incumbent Party Votes Pct Challenger Party Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
1952 U.S. House Robert C. Byrd Democratic 104,387 56% Latelle M. LaFollette Republican 83,429 44%
1954 U.S. House Robert C. Byrd Democratic 73,535 63% Pat B. Withrow, Jr. Republican 43,685 37%
1956 U.S. House Robert C. Byrd Democratic 99,854 57% Cleo S. Jones Republican 74,110 43%
1958 U.S. Senate W. Chapman Revercomb Republican 263,172 41% Robert C. Byrd Democratic 381,745 59%
1964 U.S. Senate Robert C. Byrd Democratic 515,015 68% Cooper P. Benedict Republican 246,072 32%
1970 U.S. Senate Robert C. Byrd Democratic 345,965 78% Elmer Dodson Republican 99,658 22%
1976 U.S. Senate Robert C. Byrd Democratic 566,359 100% Unopposed
1982 U.S. Senate Robert C. Byrd Democratic 387,170 68% Cleve Benedict Republican 173,910 31% William Hovland Socialist Workers 4,234 1%
1988 U.S. Senate Robert C. Byrd Democratic 410,983 65% M. Jay Wolfe Republican 223,564 35%
1994 U.S. Senate Robert C. Byrd Democratic 290,495 69% Stan Klos Republican 130,441 31%
2000 U.S. Senate Robert C. Byrd Democratic 469,215 78% David T. Gallaher Republican 121,635 20% Joe Whelan Libertarian 12,627 2%

NOTE: Representative E.H. Hedrick (D) did not seek re-election in 1952 for West Virginia's 6th Congressional District; thus the seat did not have an incumbent. Therefore, Byrd was placed under the incumbent column because he had the same political affiliation as Hedrick.

Published writing

  • Senator Robert C. Byrd. 2005. Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields. ISBN 1933202009.
  • Senator Robert C. Byrd. 2004. Losing America: Confronting A Reckless and Arrogant Presidency. ISBN 0393059421.
  • Senator Robert C. Byrd. 2004. We Stand Passively Mute: Senator Robert C. Byrd's Iraq Speeches. ISBN 0975574906.
  • Senator Robert C. Byrd. 1995. Senate of the Roman Republic: Addresses on the History of Roman Constitutionalism. ISBN 0160589967
  • Senator Robert C. Byrd. 1995. The Senate, 1789–1989: Classic Speeches, 1830–1993, Vol. 3. ISBN 0160632579
  • Senator Robert C. Byrd. 1993. The Senate, 1789–1989: Historical Statistics, 1789–1992, Vol. 4. ISBN 0160632560
  • Senator Robert C. Byrd. 1991. The Senate, 1789–1989, Vol. 2: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate. ISBN 0160064058
  • Senator Robert C. Byrd. 1989. The Senate, 1789–1989, Vol. 1: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate. ISBN 0160063914

Robert C. Byrd placenames

Byrd is known for having amassed one of the largest number of placenames in the history of Congress. This has caused consternation among some of Senator Byrd's critics, due to the fact that toponyms are typically bestowed posthumously. Others say that the placenames are simply a testament to his long record of public service.

Family

File:Byrd ggrnddghters web.gif
Byrd with great-grandchildren Caroline Byrd Fatemi (left) and Kathryn Somes Fatemi.
  • Wife: Erma Ora James Byrd (died March 26, 2006)
  • Children: Mrs. Mohammad (Mona Byrd) Fatemi and Mrs. Jon (Marjorie Byrd) Moore
  • Grandchildren: Erik Fatemi, Darius Fatemi, and Frederik Fatemi, Michael Moore (deceased), Mona Moore, and Mary Anne Moore
  • Great-grandchildren: Caroline Byrd Fatemi, Kathryn Somes Fatemi, Anna Cristina Fatemi, Michael Yoo Fatemi, Emma James Clarkson and Hannah Byrd Clarkson.

Note

  • Robert Byrd is of no relation to Harry F. Byrd and Harry F. Byrd, Jr., both former U.S. Senators from Virginia.
  • Byrd was an avid fiddle player for most of his life, starting in his teens when he played in various square dance bands. Once he entered politics, he used his fiddling skills to attract attention and win votes. In 1978 when Byrd was Majority Leader, he recorded an album called U.S. Senator Robert Byrd: Mountain Fiddler (County, 1978). Byrd was accompanied by Country Gentlemen Doyle Lawson, James Bailey, and Spider Gilliam. Most of the LP consists of old-timey mountain music. Byrd covers "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die," a Zeke Manners song, and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." He has performed at the Kennedy Center and on Hee Haw. He can no longer play the fiddle due to the symptoms of what aides say is a benign essential tremor that affects his hands.
  • Byrd is the subject of the song Byrd From West Virginia by the Los Angeles based cosmic country band I See Hawks in L.A. The song addresses the challenges and hardships of his early life (not omitting that period when "the darkness of America blinded his sight"), and pays affectionate tribute to his public service career, particularly his opposition to the invasion of Iraq.
  • Senator Byrd is called by some the "King of Pork" [23], a name in which he relishes.

References

  1. ^ Rogers, William; Ward, Robert; Atkins, Leah; and Flynt, Wayne. Alabama: The History of a Deep South State. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, AL, 1994. Pages 437 and 442.
  2. ^ Rice, Arnold. The Ku Klux Klan in American Politics. Brooklyn, NY: M. S. G. Haskell House, 1972.
  3. ^ "Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields" (June 2005) - West Virginia University Press ISBN 1933202009
Wikiquote has quotations related to Robert Byrd.


Template:Incumbent U.S. Senator boxTemplate:Succession box one to twoTemplate:Succession box two to oneTemplate:Incumbent succession box
Preceded by U.S. Representative of West Virginia's 6th Congressional District
1953–1959 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Senate Majority Whip
1971 – 1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Senate Majority Leader
1977 – 1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Senate Minority Leader
1981 – 1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Senate Majority Leader
1987 – 1989 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President pro tempore of the United States Senate
January 3 – January 20, 2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee
January 3 – January 20, 2001 		Succeeded by
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