Robert Byrd DEAD: Senator Dies At Age 92 (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

WASHINGTON (AP)- Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, has died at age 92.

Spokesman Jesse Jacobs says Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. Monday at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va.

Byrd was elected to the Senate in 1958, after spending six years in the House. He was the Senate majority leader for six years during the late 1970s and 1980s and was third in the line of succession for the presidency. As either chairman or the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee for 20 years, he steered billions of dollars in federal spending to West Virginia.

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In this Sept. 19, 1960 file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John F. Kennedy, D-Mass., second right, is welcomed by, from left, West Virginia Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jennings Randolph and State Attorney General and Democratic nominee for governor, W.W. Barron, extreme right, as Kennedy arrives for a speaking appearance at Civic Hall in Charleston, W. Va. (AP)

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In this Sept. 19, 1960 file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John F. Kennedy, D-Mass., second right, is welcomed by, from left, West Virginia Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jennings Randolph and State Attorney General and Democratic nominee for governor, W.W. Barron, extreme right, as Kennedy arrives for a speaking appearance at Civic Hall in Charleston, W. Va. (AP)

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Comments

[jhink465]

05:17 PM on 06/28/2010

Farewell to the last great orator in the Senate.

[eldorado81]

05:03 PM on 06/28/2010

Sen.Byrd was so right.The war was a war of choice not necessity.

[KareemCheez]

04:10 PM on 06/28/2010

I'm sorry, but in the interest of full disclosure, where are the pictures of Democratic Senator Byrd in full KKK dress?? Perhaps a shot of him burning a cross or atleast roasting marshmallows on the fire would suffice.

Were he a life-long Republican, you surely would have posted these pictures. So, if you'll pardon the pun, why are you white-washing his days as an Exalted Cyclops of the KKK?

[raleigh22]

12:36 AM on 08/15/2010

He wasn't an exalted anything, he was a member for a short time, not a leader. He apologized over 50 yrs ago. Have you forgiven Shirley Sherrod? If one apologized and says they learned better, why not the other?

[emma richmond]

04:10 PM on 06/28/2010

This Morning while watching C-Span, and to hear all the Senators Speak, to hear the Democrats speak form their heartS and the Republicans made it Political. What we saw doing President Obama Inauguration, was love and Transformation of a person (SEN. BYRD), and here is a man that wasn't to Proud to say he was wrong in the Pass and to make it right, with that he made his Peace with GOD, the People he had wrong and the things he had done, undoubtly he ask GOD for forgiveness, the Speeches we heard from all the Senators was what it was, where we come from you don't wait for a person to die, you give the Praises while they are alive, a saying Give me my "FLOWERS WHILE I'M ALIVE SO I CAN SMELL THEM. Know matter what other may say or think, The President and Robert Byrd made insnspiration with each Other, because Sen. Byrd Supported the President when his State was against him, now we know the Angels are Shouting in Heaven, RIP SEN. BYRD, AND OUR PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE FAMILY, GOD BLESS.

[OneSweetGay]

02:20 PM on 06/28/2010

Bobby B. on the new $50 note!

[ggmome]

12:31 PM on 06/28/2010

Well done, Senator Byrd, you will be missed.

[white mende man]

11:58 AM on 06/28/2010

R.I.P. Sen. Robert Byrd
America will miss you and I thank you for a job well done.

[alasker]

11:57 AM on 06/28/2010

Thank you Senator Byrd for standing up against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. You and one quarter of the Senate are heros for standing up for America and our Constitution then. By carrying a copy of this document with you every day you didn't forget that your loyalties were to America and the American people. Rest in Peace.

[Firbolg]

11:53 AM on 06/28/2010

He has left a world in need of him, but that would not heed him.
As the country he loved allowed principle after founding principle to vanish into the black hole of greed and power he managed to resist the attraction that ate the souls of most of his colleagues in Congress and became both a heroic and tragic lone voice reminding us that we could, and should, be better.

[InExileInOhio]

01:09 PM on 06/28/2010

No words need be added to what you have written. Amen to that.
May God bless Robert C. Byrd.

[treetracker]

03:28 PM on 06/28/2010

Well said.

May I add:

Thank you Sen. Byrd for your many years of service not only to the citizens of your state, but to the citizens of your country.

[maab76]

10:34 AM on 06/29/2010

Thank him too, for setting an example of how to learn and to change during our lives so that we protect the knowledge and rights of all of our citizens.

[Cal3b G]

11:53 AM on 06/28/2010

Thank God for Senator Byrd, and unlike other segregationists, he was able to ADMIT he was wrong. And he put politics aside when it came to one of the most critical votes of his life, the war in Iraq. He didn't turn his back on his morals about sending Americans to a war of choice.

[MissVirginiaVoter]

06:37 PM on 06/28/2010

I guess the Civil Rights Act was chump change

[Cal3b G]

01:36 AM on 06/29/2010

If you'd read what I wrote I said he apologized and I called the Iraq War vote "one of" the biggest votes of his life.

[lucyliberal]

10:24 AM on 06/28/2010

senator byrd is a true american hero--he always voted true to his heart. i'll never forget his speech on the senate floor opposing the iraq war. he seemed to have a keen vision concerning right and wrong.
never hesitating to speak his mind was a refreshing reminder of what a capable polititian should be. he'll be greatly missed.

[cebudavid]

10:50 AM on 06/28/2010

We will miss him and you said it correctly when you said Senator Byrd had a keen vision concerning right and wrong and never hesitating to speak his thoughts! Nice Post fanned and faved

[henrypapillon]

10:12 AM on 06/28/2010

There were a lot of changes in him and the country during that time.

[jws2346]

09:51 AM on 06/28/2010

RIP Senator Bryrd

[Vige]

09:47 AM on 06/28/2010

The info under the photo of Mrs. Byrd is incorrect.

Erma Ora James Byrd, the wife of Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, died Saturday at the couple's home in McLean, Va. She was 88. The daughter of a coal miner, Erma Byrd met her future husband while both attended Mark Twain Grade School in Raleigh County, W.Va. They married when they were 19.

[AddyGmom]

09:45 AM on 06/28/2010

The US will miss Sen Byrd.....