Robert Byrd

Robert Byrd
Official portrait, 2003
United States Senator from West Virginia
In office January 3, 1959 – June 28, 2010
Preceded by	Chapman Revercomb
Succeeded by	Carte Goodwin
Senate positions President pro tempore of the United States Senate In office January 3, 2007 – June 28, 2010 Preceded by Ted Stevens Succeeded by Daniel Inouye In office June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003 Preceded by Strom Thurmond Succeeded by Ted Stevens In office January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001 Preceded by Strom Thurmond Succeeded by Strom Thurmond In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995 Preceded by John C. Stennis Succeeded by Strom Thurmond President pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007 Preceded by Strom Thurmond Succeeded by Ted Stevens Senate Majority Leader In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1989 Whip Alan Cranston Preceded by Bob Dole Succeeded by George Mitchell In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1981 Whip Alan Cranston Preceded by Mike Mansfield Succeeded by Howard Baker Senate Minority Leader In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1987 Whip Alan Cranston Preceded by Howard Baker Succeeded by Bob Dole Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1989 Preceded by Mike Mansfield Succeeded by George Mitchell Senate Majority Whip In office January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1977 Leader Mike Mansfield Preceded by Ted Kennedy Succeeded by Alan Cranston
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 6th district
In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1959
Preceded by	Erland Hedrick
Succeeded by	John Slack
Member of the West Virginia Senate from the 9th district
In office December 1, 1950 – December 23, 1952
Preceded by	Eugene Scott
Succeeded by	Jack Nuckols
Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from Raleigh County
In office January 1947 – December 1950
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Multi-member district
Personal details
Born	Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr. (1917-11-20)November 20, 1917 North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	June 28, 2010(2010-06-28) (aged 92) Falls Church, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Columbia Gardens Cemetery Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Erma James ​ ​ (m. 1936; died 2006)​
Children	2
Education	Marshall University (BA) American University (JD)
Signature
Robert Byrd's voice Byrd discusses the Senate's early history during a special bicentennial session Recorded April 6, 1989

Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A Democrat, Byrd also served as a U.S. representative for six years, from 1953 until 1959. He remains the longest-serving U.S. Senator in history; he was the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress^[1][2][3][4] until surpassed by Representative John Dingell of Michigan.^[5] Byrd is the only West Virginian to have served in both chambers of the state legislature and in both chambers of Congress.^[6]

Byrd's political career spanned more than sixty years. He first entered the political arena by organizing and leading a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s, an action he later described as "the greatest mistake I ever made".^[7] He then served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1947 to 1950, and the West Virginia State Senate from 1950 to 1952. Initially elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1952, Byrd served there for six years before being elected to the Senate in 1958. He rose to become one of the Senate's most powerful members, serving as secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus from 1967 to 1971 and—after defeating his longtime colleague Ted Kennedy for the job—as Senate Majority Whip from 1971 to 1977. Over the next 12 years, Byrd led the Democratic caucus as Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader. In 1989, he stepped down, following the pressure to make way for new party leadership.^[8] As the longest serving Democratic senator, Byrd held the position of President pro tempore four times when his party was in the majority. This placed him third in the line of presidential succession, after the vice president and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Serving three different tenures as chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations enabled Byrd to steer a great deal of federal money toward projects in West Virginia.^[9] Critics derided his efforts as pork barrel spending,^[10] while Byrd argued that the many federal projects he worked to bring to West Virginia represented progress for the people of his state. Notably, Byrd strongly opposed Clinton's 1993 efforts to allow homosexuals to serve in the military and supported efforts to limit same-sex marriage.^[11] Although he filibustered against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and supported the Vietnam War earlier in his career, Byrd's views changed considerably over the course of his life; by the early 2000s, he had completely renounced racism and segregation. Byrd was outspoken in his opposition to the Iraq War. Renowned for his knowledge of Senate precedent and parliamentary procedure, Byrd wrote a four-volume history of the Senate in later life. Near the end of his life, Byrd was in declining health and was hospitalized several times. He died in office on June 28, 2010, at the age of 92, and was buried at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia.