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Harry Flood Byrd, Jr. (December 20, 1914 – July 30, 2013) was an American orchardist, newspaper publisher and politician. He served in the Senate of Virginia and then represented Virginia in the United States Senate, for an aggregate of thirty-six years in elected public office. He was the first independent in the history of the U.S. Senate to be elected by a majority of the popular vote. ==Family, education and newspaper career== Byrd was born December 20, 1914 in Winchester, Virginia, the eldest child of Harry F. Byrd Sr. and wife Anne Byrd (née Beverley). His siblings included a sister, Westwood ("Westie") and two brothers, Richard Evelyn (Dick) and Beverley.〔Hatch, p.429.〕 He was a member of one of the First Families of Virginia, including his uncle Richard E. Byrd, a pilot and polar explorer. On August 9, 1941 Byrd married Gretchen Thompson. They had two sons, Harry and Thomas, and a daughter Beverley.〔''Richmond Times-Dispatch'', July 31, 2013, "Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (1914-2013)"〕 In 1931, at the urging of his father, Byrd enrolled at Virginia Military Institute; two years later he transferred to the University of Virginia, where he became a member of the St. Anthony Hall fraternity. He left the University in 1935 to shore up his father's newspaper, ''The Winchester Star''. He also gave up an opportunity to join a global business in Paris. The ''Star'' had been without a full-time editor since his father had left to represent Virginia in the United States Senate in 1933. Upon his joining the paper, his father warned him, "If you make too many mistakes, you're gone." Within a year his son became editor and publisher while his father retained financial control and advised him on editorials.〔Heinemann, p.107-108.〕 Byrd later assumed membership and then leadership roles on the paper's board of directors, dedicating 78 years to the enterprise in one capacity or another. Early in his career he also learned the business under the tutelage of John Crown at the ''(Harrisonburg Daily News Record )''. Byrd was the publisher of that newspaper from 1936 to 1941 and again from 1946 to 1981, and was a member of its board until his death. He later became owner, until 1987, of the Page Shenandoah Newspaper Corporation, which published ''The Page News and Courier'' in Luray and ''(The Shenandoah Valley Herald )'' in Woodstock. He retired as Chairman of the Byrd newspapers in 2001, and his son Thomas succeeded him; indeed, the company has been owned by the family for more than 100 years.〔''Winchester Star'', July 31, 2013, "Former U.S. Sen. Byrd Jr. Dies"〕 Shortly after his marriage, he volunteered for the United States Navy during World War II and served initially in Navy Public Relations; he requested transfer to a combat position and was assigned to the Central Pacific as an Executive Officer with a bombing squadron of Consolidated PB2Y Coronados until 1946.〔Hatch, p.473.〕 While in the Navy he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.〔 After the war, Byrd oversaw the construction of a new facility for the ''Star''. He also became a director of the Associated Press and later served as its Vice-President.〔Hatch, p.484-485.〕 He was a member of the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harry F. Byrd, Jr.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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