Robert Byrd

Robert C Byrd married Ema Ora James on May 29, 1937. The couple had two children Mona and Marjorie Byrd. They also had six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. Ema died in 2006.

In old age, Byrd suffered from essential tremor, which is a common movement disorder and was confined to wheelchair. In spite of that, he remained active and attended most official functions. He also attended Barack Obama's inaugural luncheon on January 20, 2009.

Senator Byrd died on June 28, 2010, at the age of 92, due to natural causes at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Robert Carlyle Byrd was born on November 20, 1917 as Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr., in North Carolina. His father’s name was Cornelius Calvin Sale Sr. and his mother was Ada Mae Kirby.

Ada Mae died when Calvin Jr. was only ten months old. To fulfill her wish, his father handed him over to his relatives Titus and Vlurma Byrd. They changed his name to Robert Carlyle Byrd.

Robert spent his childhood in the coal mining region, located in the southern part of West Virginia. He studied in Mark Twain High School in Tams. After graduating from there he joined Beckley College. Later he shifted to Concord University, but could not complete his education.

In 1940, he became an active member of Ku Klux Klan and recruited 150 young men to form a new chapter. Klan officials noticed his natural talent for leadership and pointed it out to him. Robert saw a new light.

Until then young Robert had never thought of politics as a career option; but from then on he began to think of joining politics. However, he had to wait six more years for that. Meanwhile, he kept himself employed by various means.

Robert C Byrd entered the political arena by winning a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house in the West Virginia Legislature. Here he represented the Raleigh County from 1947 to 1950. He was next elected to the upper house and served the West Virginia Senate until 1952.

In 1952, Robert entered national politics by winning a seat in the United States House of Representative on the nomination of the Democratic Party. However, the term was short-lived. He was reelected to the post twice more and altogether served the House from January 1953 to 1959.

In 1958, Robert C. Byrd was elected to the United States Senate on the nomination of the Democratic Party and went on to serve the house from January 3, 1959 to June 28, 2010. Over the course of time, he became a powerful member of the Senate and held many important posts.

Senator Byrd served as the Senate Majority Whip from January 1971 to January 1977; Senate Minority Leader from January 1981 to January 1987; Senate Majority Leader from January 1977 to January 1981 and again from January 1987 to January 1989.

During his long career, Senator Byrd served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate four times. He occupied the position from January 3, 1989 to January 3, 1995; from January 3, 2001 to January 20, 2001; from June 6, 2001 to January 3, 2003 and finally from January 3, 2007 to June 28, 2010.

Throughout his long career, Robert C. Byrd worked tirelessly for the development of West Virginia, which was at that time one of the poorest states of the United States of America. He successfully steered billions of federal dollars towards its development and claimed many federal projects for his state.

Senator Byrd was also instrumental in building number of highways, dams and educational institutes across his state. However, his critics mocked his efforts as ‘Pork Barrel Spending’ and called him the ‘King of Pork’.

It was because of Senator Byrd’s insistence, proceeding at the Senate began to be televised to the general public. To familiarize the public about the inner workings of the Senate, he also gave series of lectures on the inner working of the house.

He also published ‘The Senate: 1789–1989: Addresses on the History of the Senate’ in four volumes. In addition to that, he had five other published writings on various topics.