Robert C. Byrd, US Senator from West Virginia, and a member and former Senate Leader of the Democratic Party, died early this morning at the age of 92. According to a statement from his office, Byrd died around 3:00 am at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Byrd was admitted to the hospital late last week for what appeared to be heat exhaustion and severe dehydration. Over the week-end, doctors described him as “seriously ill”, according to his office.
President Obama said in a statement on Monday that, “the people of West Virginia have lost a true champion, the United Sates Senate has lost a venerable institution and America has lost a voice of principle and reason with the passion of Robert C. Byrd.”
Obama added:
“Senator Byrd’s story was uniquely American. He was born into wrenching poverty, but educated himself to become an authoritative scholar, respected leader, and unparalleled champion of our Constitution. He scaled the summit of power, but his mind never strayed from the people of his beloved West Virginia. He had the courage to stand firm in his principles, but also the courage to change over time.”
Byrd was a Senator from January 3, 1959, until his death, and was the longest-serving Senator, as well as the longest-serving member in congressional history.
He was the Dean of the Senate from 2003 to 2010. He was also the oldest member of the current Congress at the time of his death and was the first person to serve uninterrupted for half a century as a U.S. senator. Byrd was President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2007 to 2010, a position that put him third in the line of presidential succession, behind Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Prior to becoming a Senator and running for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1952, Byrd joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1942 at the age of 24.
In 1944, Byrd wrote to segregationist Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo:
“ …..I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side… Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.”
Byrd subsequently quit the Klan saying, “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.”
In his latest autobiography, Byrd explained that he was a member of the Klan 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.”
Byrd also said, in 2005, “….I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times… and I don’t mind apologizing over and over again. I can’t erase what happened.”
Byrd is survived by his two daughters, several grandchildren and great grandchildren.
