Longest-serving US senator Robert Byrd dead at 92
Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a fiery orator versed in the classics and a hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to the state of his Depression-era upbringing, died Monday. He was 92.A spokesman for the family, Jesse Jacobs, said Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Virginia. His health had been failing for several years.Byrd, a Democrat, was the longest-serving US senator in history, holding his seat for more than 50 years. He was the Senate@@@s majority leader for six of those years and was third in the line of succession to the presidency, behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.In comportment and style, Byrd often seemed a Senate throwback to a courtlier 19th century. He could recite poetry, quote the Bible, discuss the Constitutional Convention and detail the Peloponnesian Wars — and frequently did in Senate debates.Yet there was nothing particularly courtly about Byrd@@@s pursuit or exercise of power.Byrd was a master of the Senate@@@s bewildering rules and longtime chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls a third of the $3 trillion federal budget. He was willing to use both to reward friends and punish those he viewed as having slighted him.ByREUTERS06/08/2025 07:57 AMByREUTERS06/08/2025 05:36 AMByMAARIV06/07/2025 02:33 PMByWALLA!06/07/2025 11:18 AMByREUTERS06/07/2025 03:25 AM
