Harry F. Byrd Sr.

Harry F. Byrd

Harry Flood Byrd senior (born June 10, 1887 in Martinsburg , West Virginia , † October 20, 1966 in New York City ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party . Byrd was governor of Virginia between 1926 and 1930 . From 1933 to 1965 he represented the state as a senator in the US Senate .

Early years and political advancement

In the year he was born, Harry Byrd came to Winchester , Virginia with his parents . There he attended public schools and the Shenandoah Valley Academy . From 1903 Byrd was active in the newspaper business by publishing the newspaper "Winchester Star", which belonged to his father. He later published the "Martinsburg Evening Journal" and, from 1923, the "Harrisburg Daily News Record". He also began operating apple and peach orchards near Berryville in Clarke County, Virginia . He also took over this business from his father. At times he was considered the largest apple producer east of the Mississippi . From 1908 to 1918, Byrd was the head of the Shenandoah Valley road maintenance department .

Byrd joined the Democratic Party , whose leading figure he was for much of the first half of the 20th century in Virginia. Between 1915 and 1925 he was a member of the Virginia Senate . There he was a member of various committees. He campaigned for a further expansion of the roads, which should be financed with a mineral oil tax. In 1918, during the First World War , he was State Commissioner for the handling of fuel reserves ( Fuel Commissioner ). In 1922 he became party leader for the Virginia Democrats. It was during these years that he became so popular in his state that he was elected the new governor in 1925 .

Governor of Virginia

Harry Byrd began his four-year term on February 1, 1926. During his tenure, the laws against lynching were tightened and everyone involved in such crimes was tried like murderers. The electoral process for the head of state was simplified to the effect that in future only the governor, the lieutenant governor and the attorney general were elected. The administration was reformed by abolishing or merging some ministries. In the end there were twelve government departments. Tax law has also been reformed. Governor Byrd also campaigned for the expansion of the road network and tourism. Politically, he was able to expand his position in Virginia during this time. He made a huge impact that lasted into the 1960s. There was general talk of the Byrd Organization , which largely determined all candidates for the Democratic Party for public office during these decades.

US Senator

In 1928, Byrd supported Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith, and then four years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt . Between 1928 and 1940 he also sat on the Democratic National Committee . After the resignation of Claude A. Swanson , Byrd was elected as his successor as US Senator. In 1960 he ran unsuccessfully in the presidential election as an independent candidate and won only 15 electoral votes (in Mississippi , Alabama and Oklahoma ). In the following Senate elections until 1964 he was confirmed, so that he could exercise his mandate between March 4, 1933 and his resignation on November 10, 1965. During this time he was a member of various committees. He was chairman of the Committee on Rules and, among other things, a member of the Finance Committee. Domestically, he opposed President Roosevelt's New Deal , but supported his foreign policy. Even later, he did not always adhere to the guidelines set by the federal party. Between 1959 and 1964 he was a staunch opponent of the civil rights movement and racial equality in schools. He had already signed the Southern Manifesto in 1956 . In November 1965, Harry Byrd resigned as a senator for health reasons. His seat was taken over by his son Harry Jr. who held this mandate until 1983.

Racist Belief

Byrd was a staunch supporter of racial segregation throughout his life . Not only had he signed the Southern Manifesto, but he also planned to fight against any progress towards desegregation . When the Supreme Court ruled the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education enacted segregation in schools, Byrd announced a program called Massive Resistance . This consisted, on the one hand, of the fact that schools in Virginia that abolished racial segregation no longer received government grants and, on the other hand, that private schools that practiced racial segregation should be supported. Governor Thomas B. Stanley , among others, resisted this plan . The plan ultimately failed due to the changing society.

Another résumé

After his resignation, Byrd withdrew from politics. He died in October 1966. He had four children with his wife, Annie Douglas Beverly, including the aforementioned son Harry . Harry Byrd Sr. was the nephew of Henry D. Flood , who was a member of the US House of Representatives from 1901 to 1921 . Another uncle was his brother Joel West Flood , who was also a congressman from 1931 to 1932. Byrd's brother, Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888–1957), was a famous polar explorer and was the first to fly over the South Pole.

Web links

Commons : Harry F. Byrd  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Harry F. Byrd in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Harry F. Byrd in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Harry F. Byrd in the National Governors Association (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ely, James W (1976). The crisis of conservative Virginia: The Byrd organization and the politics of massive resistance. University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 0-87049-188-1 .
2. ↑ Virginia government website (English).
3. ^ Time : The Congress: Giving Them Fits . August 17, 1962 (accessed October 16, 2010).