--- description: The longest-serving senator in U.S. history dies at 92 title: Remembering Robert Byrd image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) # Remembering Robert Byrd by [TIME](/author/time/) Jun 28, 2010 4:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Jun 28, 2010 4:00 AM CUT The longest-serving senator in U.S. history dies at 92 ### Senate Legend  Robert C. Byrd, a Democrat and senior U.S. Senator from West Virginia, served in the Senate longer than any other Senator in American history. He was known for his lofty oratory and mastery of parliamentary tactics. Win McNamee / Getty ### Conflict  At a 9/11 memorial service in 2008, Byrd sits with his head down. Although he supported the war in Afghanistan, he strongly opposed the one in Iraq. Three days after the U.S. invaded — to remove "the wrong villain," in the "the wrong war" — Byrd said, "I weep for my country." Lauren Victoria Burke / AP ### Support  Noting Barack Obama's opposition to the Iraq war, Robert Byrd announced in May of 2008, Presidential candidate "Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support." Jeff Gentner / AP ### Goodbye  Not only was Byrd an integral part of Senate history, he was also one of its chroniclers and admirers, writing a detailed two-volume history of it. "After 200 years," he wrote, the Senate, "is still the anchor of the Republic, the morning and evening star in the American constitutional constellation." Byrd is survived by two daughters, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He was 92. Jim Young / Reuters / Corbis ### Humble Origins  Born in North Carolina, but sent to live with a foster uncle in West Virginia after his mother died, Byrd discovered a gift for oratory early on and first ran for public office - a delegate in the West Virginia House - in 1946\. His growing political ambitions were partially derailed by the revelation that he had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1940's, but by 1958, when this photo was taken, he was a candidate for U.S. Senator from the state of West Virginia, a contest he would win handily. AP ### Junior Senator  From the beginning of his service in the U.S. Senate, Byrd had a nose for the source of power. In his first decade, he generally voted with his party in support of the polices of Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and volunteered for unglamours but essential housekeeping responsibilities in the Senate chamber. AP ### Reading Material  On one critical issue, Byrd broke ranks with his Democratic colleagues. In 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was being considered for passage on the Senate floor, Byrd filibustered for 15 hours, declaring at one point, "Men are not created equal today, and they were not created equal in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was written...Men and races of men differ in appearance, ways, physical power, mental capacity, creativity, and vision." Byrd would later apologize profusely for these opinions and his participation in the KKK. HLG / AP ### The Change  Wholeheartedly supporting the war in Vietnam and working to trim Welfare assistance rolls, Byrd was considered conservative enough to get a place on Richard Nixon's list of possible Supreme Court nominees. By 1971, however, Byrd had won the position of Majority Whip and tempered his views to better represent his new, broader constituency. As such, he tended to vote as a liberal on housing, unemployment benefits and Social Security, among other issues. David Hume Kennerly / Getty ### Learned  Byrd's oratory was legendary, honed no doubt by his time as a radio pastor in the 1940's. He was known to wave a copy of the Constitution at his colleagues, while reciting some obscure story from ancient Rome to prove a point. Diana Walker / Time & Life Pictures / Getty ### Work  President Ronald Reagan confers with Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole and Senate Minority Leader Robert Byrd during a meeting with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders in 1985. CNP / Corbis ### Play  The fiddle served Robert Byrd well over the years. He recalled that on trips back to West Virginia, "People would see me with it and ask about it, and I just took it out and played a tune...It helped show I was a regular fellow and everyone seemed to like it." But because the fiddle was for Byrd an instrument of joy, he laid it down for good when his eldest grandson died in a car accident in 1982. Bettmann / Corbis ### Cash Flow  Until last November, Byrd was the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the largest and one of the most powerful committees in the Senate. His role on this committee, which has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending in the Senate, gave Byrd extraordinary power to bring back pork to his home state. He got agencies such as the IRS, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the FBI to relocate centers to West Virginia. The state can also lay claim to a Robert C. Byrd Bridge, a Robert C. Byrd High School and a Robert C. Byrd Institute for Flexible Manufacturing, among other things. 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