One last lion

— The death of Senator Robert C. Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, this week at age 92 is a loss for the nation and for the Senate as an institution.

Byrd served 51 years in the Senate, longer than anyone in history. He spent each one of those years defending the independence of the legislative branch of government.

Byrd had obvious flaws that should not be overlooked in an obituary. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he became a wasteful master of pork-barrel politics, sending billions in federal dollars in earmarks for his impoverished state. Among all the dams, highways, and federal buildings, at least 30 bear his name.

He got his start in politics after founding a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s.Byrd waged an unsuccessful, 14-hour filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

But his attitudes did evolve. He later called his membership in the KKK a “sad mistake” and apologized. He said that he had “reflected the fears and prejudices” of the time.

The nation’s attitudes moderated along with him. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected the country’s first African-American president. In South Carolina this year, Tim Scott is poised to become the first black Republican elected to Congress from the Deep South in more than 100 years.

Byrd’s personal story proved that success in America is possible from the humblest of beginnings. He grew up in a home without electricity or plumbing, educated himself, and rose to become third in the line of succession to the presidency.

Editorial, Pages 16 on 06/30/2010

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