User:ZamBoi4life/sandbox

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Byrd's political career spanned more than sixty years. He first entered the political arena by organizing and leading a local chapter of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in the 1940s, an action he later described as "the greatest mistake I ever made". He then served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1947 to 1950, and the West Virginia State Senate from 1950 to 1952. Initially elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1952, Byrd served there for six years before being elected to the Senate in [[1958 United States Senate election in West Virginia|1958]]. He rose to become one of the Senate's most powerful members, serving as secretary of the [[Senate Democratic Caucus]] from 1967 to 1971 and—after defeating his longtime colleague [[Ted Kennedy]] for the job—as [[Senate Majority Whip]] from 1971 to 1977. Over the next 12 years, Byrd led the Democratic caucus as [[Senate Majority Leader]] and [[Senate Minority Leader]]. In 1989, he stepped down, following the pressure to make way for new party leadership. As the longest-serving Democratic senator, Byrd held the position of [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore]] four times when his party was in the majority. This placed him third in the [[United States presidential line of succession|line of presidential succession]], after the vice president and the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]].

Byrd's political career spanned more than sixty years. He first entered the political arena by organizing and leading a local chapter of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in the 1940s. He then served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1947 to 1950, and the West Virginia State Senate from 1950 to 1952. Initially elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1952, Byrd served there for six years before being elected to the Senate in [[1958 United States Senate election in West Virginia|1958]]. He rose to become one of the Senate's most powerful members, serving as secretary of the [[Senate Democratic Caucus]] from 1967 to 1971 and as [[Senate Majority Whip]] from 1971 to 1977. Over the next 12 years, Byrd led the Democratic caucus as [[Senate Majority Leader]] and [[Senate Minority Leader]]. He held the position of [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore]] two times when his party was in the majority. Byrd strongly opposed Clinton's 1993 efforts to allow homosexuals to [[Don't ask, don't tell|serve in the military]] and supported efforts to limit [[Same-sex marriage in the United States|same-sex marriage]]. Although he [[Senate filibuster|filibustered]] against the [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] and supported the [[Vietnam War]] earlier in his career, Byrd's views changed considerably over the course of his life; by the early 2000s, he had completely renounced racism and [[racial segregation|segregation]].

Byrd became West Virginia’s Senior Senator in 1985 following the retirement of [[Jennings Randolph]]. He served three different tenures as chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Appropriations]], which enabled Byrd to steer a great deal of federal money toward projects in West Virginia. Critics derided his efforts as [[pork (politics)|pork barrel spending]], while Byrd argued that the many federal projects he worked to bring to West Virginia represented progress for the people of his state. Notably, Byrd strongly opposed Clinton's 1993 efforts to allow homosexuals to [[Don't ask, don't tell|serve in the military]] and supported efforts to limit [[Same-sex marriage in the United States|same-sex marriage]]. Although he [[Senate filibuster|filibustered]] against the [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] and supported the [[Vietnam War]] earlier in his career, Byrd's views changed considerably over the course of his life; by the early 2000s, he had completely renounced racism and [[racial segregation|segregation]]. Byrd was outspoken in his opposition to the [[Iraq War]]. Renowned for his knowledge of Senate precedent and [[parliamentary procedure]], Byrd wrote a four-volume history of the Senate in later life. Near the end of his life, Byrd was in declining health and was hospitalized several times. He died in office on June 28, 2010, at the age of 92, and was buried at [[Columbia Gardens Cemetery]] in [[Arlington County, Virginia]].