Robert C. Byrd's story is a classic American saga of success and achievement.

Born in 1917 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, Robert Byrd was left a virtual orphan by the death of  his mother when he was only one year old.  Brought to West Virginia by his aunt and uncle to be reared as their own, the future Senator grew up in various communities in the bituminous coalfields, mastering life's early lessons and learning its duties as a miner's son, and graduating as valedictorian of his high school class in the depths of the Great Depression in the 1930's.

Robert C. Byrd's mother, Ada Kirby Sale, died in the influenza epidemic of 1918

Senator Byrd, at age 13, showing his musical talents

Unable at the time to afford college tuition, Byrd sought employment wherever he found an opportunity -- pumping gas at a filling station, working as a produce salesman, and then becoming a meat cutter -- picking up new skills as he advanced. One of those skills -- welding -- was in demand after World War II started, and he worked during the war years building "Liberty" and "Victory" ships in the construction yards of Baltimore, Maryland, and Tampa, Florida.

Robert Byrd, at age 8, with his foster father, Titus Dalton Byrd

At war's end, he returned to West Virginia with a new vision of what his home state and his country could be.  In 1946, he made his first run for political office, and was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates.

After two terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates, Byrd was elected to the West Virginia Senate; then to the United States House of Representatives for three terms; and finally, in 1958, to the United States Senate, where he has represented West Virginia continuously since, winning re-election again and again by record margins in statewide elections.  He has served longer in the United States Senate than has anyone else in West Virginia's history, an indication of the confidence, faith, and trust that the people of his home state have regarding him.

In addition to fulfilling his Senate responsibilities, he earned his law degree (J.D.), cum laude, from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1963 after ten years of study in night classes in law school.  This marked the first time in history that a sitting member of either House of the Congress has accomplished the feat of beginning and completing the courses of study leading to a law degree while serving in Congress.  Byrd was awarded his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, summa cum laude, by Marshall University in 1994.

President John F. Kennedy awards Senator Byrd his law degree

Continuing his upward trajectory, Senator Byrd became a member of the Senate Leadership in 1967, when he was selected by his colleagues as Secretary of the Democratic Conference.  In 1971, he was chosen Senate Democratic Whip.  In 1977, he was elected Democratic Leader by his Democratic colleagues, a position he held for six consecutive terms.  For the 12 years he held the position of Democratic Leader -- from January 1977 through December 1988 -- Senator Byrd served as Senate Majority Leader six years (1977-80, 1987-88) and as Senate Minority Leader six years (1981-86).

In 1989, for the first time, Senator Byrd had the opportunity to serve as Chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, on which he has held membership since the beginning of 1959.  Also in 1989, Senator Byrd was unanimously elected President pro tempore of the Senate, a post that placed him third in line of succession to the Presidency and gave him the distinction of having held more leadership positions in the U.S. Senate than any other Senator of any party in Senate history.  In June 2001, in an unprecedented shift of leadership, Senator Byrd regained the chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee and was re-elected President pro tempore of the Senate.

In 2000, West Virginia voters elected Senator Byrd to an eighth consecutive six-year term in the Senate, making him the only person in the history of the Republic to achieve that milestone.  Senator Byrd has carried all 55 West Virginia counties three times (1970, 1994, and 2000), making him the first person to do so in contested statewide general elections.  In May 2001, Senator Byrd cast his 16,000th roll call vote, giving him the distinction of casting more votes than any other Senator in history.
 

Senator and Mrs. Byrd

He is married to the former Erma Ora James, his high school sweetheart and a coal miner's daughter, and they are the parents of two daughters, Mrs. Mohammad (Mona Byrd) Fatemi and Mrs. Jon (Marjorie Byrd) Moore.  Senator and Mrs. Byrd were blessed with six grandchildren -- Erik, Darius, and Fredrik Fatemi; Michael (deceased), Mona, and Mary Anne Moore -- and one great-granddaughter, Caroline Byrd Fatemi.