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〕 |signature = Robert C. Byrd Signature.svg }} Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr.; November 20, 1917June 28, 2010) was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010. He was the longest-serving U.S. Senator and, at the time of his death, the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress.〔〔 (In June 2013, his record was surpassed by U.S. Representative John Dingell of Michigan, though Byrd is the longest-serving Senator.) Byrd is also the only West Virginian to have served in both houses of the state legislature and both houses of Congress. Byrd 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. 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—as Senate Majority Whip from 1971 to 1977. Byrd led the Democratic caucus as Senate Majority Leader from 1977 to 1981 and 1987 to 1989, and as Senate Minority Leader from 1981 to 1987. From 1989 to 2010 he served as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate when the Democratic Party had a majority, and as President pro tempore emeritus during periods of Republican majority beginning in 2001.〔 As President pro tempore, he was third in the line of presidential succession, behind the Vice President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. He also served as the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations from 1989 to 1995, 2001 to 2003, and 2007 to 2009, giving him extraordinary influence over federal spending. Byrd's seniority and leadership of the Appropriations Committee enabled him to steer a great deal of federal money toward projects in West Virginia. Critics derided his efforts as 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. He filibustered against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and supported the Vietnam War, but later backed civil rights measures and criticized the Iraq War. ==Background== Robert Byrd was born on November 20, 1917 as Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr.〔 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Cornelius Calvin Sale Sr. and his wife Ada Mae Kirby.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress )〕 When he was ten months old, his mother died in the 1918 Flu Pandemic. In accordance with his mother's wishes, his father dispersed their children among relatives. Calvin Jr. was adopted by his aunt and uncle, Titus and Vlurma Byrd, who changed his name to Robert Carlyle Byrd and raised him in the coal-mining region of southern West Virginia.〔 Byrd was valedictorian at Mark Twain High School in Tams, West Virginia〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Robert C. Byrd: A Lifelong Student )〕 and successively attended Beckley College, Concord College, Morris Harvey College, and Marshall University, all in West Virginia.〔 He joined Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. 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「Robert Byrd」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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