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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 UniversityAmerican University is a fully accredited university located in Washington, DC. It currently has roughly 5,000 undergraduate students, and approximately the same number of graduates. It is served by the Tenleytown-AU station on the Washington Metro, which Law School in 1963Events January-March January 11 The Whisky A Go-Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, is opened. January 14 George Wallace becomes governor of Alabama. January 22 Elysee treaty between France and Germany January 28 Black student Harvey.
Byrd was a member of the Ku Klux KlanThe Ku Klux Klan KKK originally referred to a secret and violent white-supremacist organization founded by veterans of the Confederate Army in 1865, but it was disbanded by 1880. The original group opposed the reforms enforced on the South by Federal troo for a period of time in the early 1940sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Events and trends Technology First nuclear bomb First cruise missile, the. In a 1946Events January January 4 Theodore Schurch becomes the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940 January 7 Allied recognize Austrian republic with 1937 borders the country is divided into four occupation zones Januar 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 CongressThe House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the United States Congress, the other being the United States Senate. Members Members of the House are elected for a term of two years. Elections alternately coincide with the president in 1952Summary of notable events in 1952 . Events January events January 8 West Germany has 8 million refugees inside its borders. January 24 Sudden heavy snowfall in Algeria. January 24 Vincent Massey sworn in as first Canada-born Governor-General of Canada., 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."
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.
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).