Changes

==Klan Membership==

==Klan Membership==

Byrd first joined the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in the 1940s and attained the rank of Exalted Cyclops, the leader of the local chapter of the organization.<ref>Pianin, Eric. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>

Byrd first joined the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in the 1940s and attained the rank of Exalted Cyclops, the leader of the local chapter of the organization.<ref>Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>

Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to [[segregation]]ist Senator Theodore Bilbo of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight:

Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to [[segregation]]ist Senator Theodore Bilbo of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight:

{{Cquote|I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side}}

{{Cquote|I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side}}

By the 1950s, he was no longer publicly involved with the Ku Klux Klan. In recent years Byrd has made public statements about poor choices he made, and like [[Strom Thurmond]], (who at one time ran on a segregationist platform) says he regrets being involved with the group. However, he was involved in a controversy in 2001 over his use of a racial epithet as part of a metaphor during an interview on race relations by [[Tony Snow]].<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FIBJt-c2o0</ref>

By the 1950s, he was no longer publicly involved with the Ku Klux Klan. In recent years Byrd has made public statements about poor choices he made, and like [[Strom Thurmond]], (who at one time ran on a segregationist platform) says he regrets being involved with the group. However, he was involved in a controversy in 2001 over his use of a racial epithet as part of a metaphor during an interview on race relations by [[Tony Snow]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FIBJt-c2o0</ref>

==Congressional Service==

==Congressional Service==

===Filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964===

===Filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964===

Byrd joined with other [[Southern United States|Southern]] and [[Border states (Civil War)|border state]] Democrats to [[filibuster]] the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], personally filibustering the bill for 14 hours — a move he later said he regretted.<ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm Byrd Says He Regrets Voting For Patriot Act], Associate Press, 2006-02-28.</ref> Despite an 83-day [[filibuster]] in the Senate, both parties in Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Act, and President Johnson signed the bill into law.<ref>[http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm  U.S. Senate, June 10, 1964: Civil Rights Filibuster Ended]</ref> He also opposed the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], but voted for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1968]]. In 2005, Byrd told the ''Washington Post'' that his membership in the [[Baptist]] church led to a change in his views. In the opinion of one reviewer, Byrd, along with other Southern and border state Democrats, came to realize that he would have to temper "his blatantly [[racial segregation|segregationist]] views" and move to the Democrat Party mainstream if he wanted to play a role nationally.

Byrd joined with other [[Southern United States|Southern]] and [[Border states (Civil War)|border state]] Democrats to [[filibuster]] the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], personally filibustering the bill for 14 hours — a move he later said he regretted.<ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm Byrd Says He Regrets Voting For Patriot Act], Associate Press, 2006-02-28.</ref> Despite an 83-day [[filibuster]] in the Senate, both parties in Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Act, and President Johnson signed the bill into law.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm  U.S. Senate, June 10, 1964: Civil Rights Filibuster Ended]</ref> He also opposed the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], but voted for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1968]]. In 2005, Byrd told the ''Washington Post'' that his membership in the [[Baptist]] church led to a change in his views. In the opinion of one reviewer, Byrd, along with other Southern and border state Democrats, came to realize that he would have to temper "his blatantly [[racial segregation|segregationist]] views" and move to the Democrat Party mainstream if he wanted to play a role nationally.

==External links==

==External links==