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Senator Byrd

Leadership.      Character.      Commitment.

News organizations seeking more information should call Senator Byrd's Communications Office at 202-224-3904.  To hear portions of many of Senator Byrd's speeches, visit the Radio page.  Also, high-resolution photographs are available from many events.

Remarks by Senator Byrd

June 09, 2004

Remembering President Ronald W. Reagan

Mr. President, on Saturday, our Nation lost a good man and a great American, the fortieth president of the United States, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

A former sports announcer, actor, television performer, and governor, this man from a small mid-western town was eventually elected to our Nation's highest office, not once, but twice, in landslide victories.  His was a success story, an American success story.  He demonstrated that the key to the American Dream is still determination, hard work, and perseverance.   He did it by appealing to our "best hopes," not "our worst fears."

Historians will study and evaluate the impact of the Reagan Administration – his role in ending the Cold War and the results of his domestic policies.

What is beyond debate was his uncanny ability to connect with the American people. He knew where he wanted to take the country and attempted to do it with remarkable determination and charm.  He restored a much needed sense of optimism in America, and he did it with a cheerfulness that was absolutely contagious.

His optimism was prevalent and penetrating and inspiring even during the darkest moments of his Administration.  With the Challenger explosion, we grieved and despaired, but when President Reagan spoke of how those courageous astronauts reached out and "touched the face of God," suddenly all of us realized that we, as a country, would make it through this grievous hour, and the American adventure into space would go on.  He was truly the "great Communicator."

I came to know and work with Mr. Reagan from a unique and important perspective.  I was the leader of the opposition party in the U.S. Senate during both of President Reagan's terms.

From this position, I came to understand and appreciate, probably even more than his strongest supporters, his hold on the American people, and the importance of the leadership that he provided. 

In fact, I  found him to be as charming in person as he was when speaking to an audience or appearing on television.

Never once did I hear him engage in personal attacks on his challengers.

When we disagreed, which was more often than naught, it was always in civil tones. He was always smiling, patting you on the back, asking you about your family, and wishing you the best.  You simply could not help but like him.  He seemed not to confuse differences of opinion with differences of ideals or values.  After all, he liked to point out, "we are all Americans."

That is the way American politics is supposed to be.  That was the decency of Ronald Wilson Reagan.  He might consider me a political opponent, but never a personal enemy.  Just as I understood his difficulties as the leader of the free world during eight years of trial and turmoil, he understood my role as the loyal opposition.

As much as I admired and respected him when he was president, never was my appreciation for him and his wife Nancy stronger than in their dealing with his last and greatest struggle -- the struggle he eloquently and heartbreakingly called the "journey" that would lead him "into the sunset" of his life -- his battle with Alzheimer's disease.  He and Nancy confronted this cruel, crippling disease with an openness and dignity that inspired a Nation.

Mr. President, my wife Erma and I extend our most heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Reagan.  She has been an inspiration to America, gracefully fulfilling the role of loyal, loving spouse even as she has watched her greatest love drift away into the fog of Alzheimer's.  In the years when they should have been able to enjoy the warm memories of their storybook life together, she endured personal emotional tortures that are difficult to imagine.  In these last years, the vigilance and caring she displayed throughout their marriage led her to become an outspoken advocate for medical research, a role for which she has earned the immense respect and gratitude of the Nation.

A Sunset Fancy"

I saw the sun sink in the golden west
No angry cloud obscured its latest ray;
Around the couch on which it sank to rest
Shone all the splendors of a summer day,
And long – though lost of view – its radiant light
Reflected from the skies, delayed the night.

Thus when a good man's life comes to a close,
No doubts arise to cloud his soul with gloom;
But faith triumphant on each feature glows
And benedictions fill the sacred room;
And long do men his virtues wide proclaim,
And generations rise to bless his name.

-- Author Unknown