Has MSM EVER questioned Byrd as to why he has opposed the Civil Rights Act, Thurgood Marshall, Clarence Thomas, and now...Dr Condoleezza Rice? Perhaps they someday will get around to this missed opportunity....
yeah. right.
Robert Byrd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Robert C. ByrdRobert Carlyle Byrd (born November 20, 1917) is a West Virginia Democrat serving in the United States Senate. As of 2004, he is the longest-serving member of the U.S. Congress, having served in the United States House of Representatives from January 1953 until he entered the Senate in 1959, while current Dean of the House John Dingell has only served since December 1955. At 87, Byrd is the oldest member of Congress.
Some consider Byrd to be a "walking encyclopedia" on the history of both the American and Roman senates. He has risen to national prominence as the oldest member of the Senate (after the retirement of Strom Thurmond) and recently as being a critic of the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Byrd was born in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1917. Byrd attended West Virginia public schools and was later a student at Beckley College, Concord College, Morris Harvey College, and Marshall College, all in West Virginia. He graduated from American University Law School in 1963.
Byrd was a local leader of the Ku Klux Klan for a period of time in the early 1940s, holding the title Kleagle; Klan recruiter. In a 1946 letter, he wrote, "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." However, 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." Still, in 1964 he opposed the Civil Rights Act and the nomination of Thurgood Marshall, a Democrat, to the United States Supreme Court in 1967. He is the only U.S. Senator to have opposed the nomination of both of the only two African-American Supreme Court justices - Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas. He also lead the opposition to the nomination of Dr. Condoleezza Rice to the position of Secretary of State.
He was first elected to the Senate in 1958 and has held the position ever since. Byrd is currently the "Father of the Senate" - the Senator with the longest continuous service. As the longest-serving Democratic Senator, he has held the office of President Pro Tempore of the Senate three times, most recently from 2001-2003. He has served as a member of the Appropriations Committee since the 1950s and is chairman of the committee when the Democratic party is in the Senate majority.
Though he has become a staunch critic of the Iraq War, Byrd has taken conservative positions on several issues. He opposed President Clinton's efforts in 1993 to allow gays to serve in the military. Byrd opposes affirmative action and is only moderately pro-choice. In economic matters, Byrd is a populist. He opposes free trade and the tax cuts implemented by President George W. Bush. Byrd is also a reliable vote for preserving Social Security.
In 1965, the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program was created by Congress as a federally funded, state-administered program. It awards $1500 per year to graduating high school seniors who continue on to higher education on the basis of academic merit.
In 1976 Byrd, at the time the Senate Majority Whip, announced that he would run for President as a "favorite son" candidate, only campaigning 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 W.Va. ballot in deference to Byrd, and even Wallace didn't campaign in the state. Byrd won by a near 9-1 margin. However, he was never a serious candidate for the nomination, and Byrd had set his sights instead on the position of Senate Majority Leader, after the retirement of Mike Mansfield. Byrd focused most of his time on campaigning for the majority leader seat, more so than for re-election to the Senate, as he was 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.
Byrd has a cameo role as a Confederate general in the Warner Brothers film Gods and Generals (2003). |
