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West Virginia and Appalachia
The Last Great Senator: Robert C. Byrd's Encounters with Eleven U.S. Presidents
No person involved in so much history received so little attention as the late Robert C. Byrd, the longest-serving U.S. senator. In The Last Great Senator , David A. Corbin examines Byrd’s complex and fascinating relationships with eleven presidents of the United States, from Eisenhower to Obama. Furthermore, Byrd had an impact on nearly every significant event of the last half century, including the Cold War, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, Kennedy’s New Frontier, the Watergate scandal, the Reagan Revolution, the impeachment of President Clinton, and the Iraq War. Holding several Senate records, Byrd also cast more votes than any other U.S. senator.
In his sweeping portrait of this eloquent and persuasive man’s epic life and career, Corbin describes Senator Byrd’s humble background in the coalfields of southern West Virginia (including his brief membership in the Ku Klux Klan). He covers Byrd’s encounters and personal relationship with each president and his effect on events during their administrations. Additionally, the book discusses Byrd’s interactions with other notable senators, including Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Russell, Mike Mansfield, and especially Robert and Edward Kennedy. Going beyond the boundaries of West Virginia and Capitol Hill, The Last Great Senator presents Byrd in a larger historical context, where he rose to the height of power in America.
In his sweeping portrait of this eloquent and persuasive man’s epic life and career, Corbin describes Senator Byrd’s humble background in the coalfields of southern West Virginia (including his brief membership in the Ku Klux Klan). He covers Byrd’s encounters and personal relationship with each president and his effect on events during their administrations. Additionally, the book discusses Byrd’s interactions with other notable senators, including Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Russell, Mike Mansfield, and especially Robert and Edward Kennedy. Going beyond the boundaries of West Virginia and Capitol Hill, The Last Great Senator presents Byrd in a larger historical context, where he rose to the height of power in America.
388 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 8, 2018
An interesting book; but one with so much bias in favour of Senator Byrd that at times it makes for hard reading. In places the bias seems well founded and in others, forced to improve his image. There is a lot of repetition and quite a few spelling and grammatical errors - none of which ruined the book, but which did make it harder in parts - which could have been edited out.
August 10, 2018
Excellent Book about an American Icon
This is an excellent book giving an insight into history as well as describing the life of an American Icon and explaining why he did things. He demonstrates how attitudes and opinions can change over time. Going from a hawk during Vietnam to realizing he had been lied to by Johnson and refusing to buy into Bushes lies about Iraq.
This is an excellent book giving an insight into history as well as describing the life of an American Icon and explaining why he did things. He demonstrates how attitudes and opinions can change over time. Going from a hawk during Vietnam to realizing he had been lied to by Johnson and refusing to buy into Bushes lies about Iraq.
February 23, 2023
One of my relatives argued to me that Joseph Biden was not such a great Senator, based among other things on his giving a eulogy at Senator Byrd's funeral. (First, a correction: Biden was vice president when he gave the eulogy, not a senator, but what do facts matter in politics anyway, right?) The implication was that Byrd was so bad, that he tainted anyone who gave him any respect. Before accepting such a (ridiculous) premise, I thought I owed it to myself to learn more about Byrd. That led me to this book.
If all you know about Byrd is that he was a member of the KKK (and I think that's all a lot of his detractors know about him), then you should learn more about him. He was in the KKK for a few years as a young man, but he was in Congress and the Senate for over 50 years. The KKK membership was very useful to use against him politically his entire career.
What stands out about Byrd is his dedication to the Constitution and to his constituents. I respected much that I learned about him, but that doesn't mean I loved everything about him. I'm fine with his personal religious beliefs, but I don't like religion in my government and public schools, but he believed that religion belonged everywhere. He and I would have been in conflict there.
This book was written by someone who worked for Byrd toward the end of his career and obviously admired him very much. I think it's a good place to start to learn about Byrd, but I'm not sure it's enough. I felt like maybe this author white-washed Byrd a bit, especially on the KKK membership, brief though it was. I certainly know more about Byrd now, but I think I need to learn more. The next place I will turn is an autobiographical book (apparently he wrote many, so I'm not sure if the next one I bought will cover his whole life or just his young life).
The one thing I do come out of reading this book believing is that just giving a eulogy for Byrd is not enough to taint another politician's entire career, but it's not the first or last time that I'll hear someone (including my relatives and friends) say something absurd in the field of politics.
If all you know about Byrd is that he was a member of the KKK (and I think that's all a lot of his detractors know about him), then you should learn more about him. He was in the KKK for a few years as a young man, but he was in Congress and the Senate for over 50 years. The KKK membership was very useful to use against him politically his entire career.
What stands out about Byrd is his dedication to the Constitution and to his constituents. I respected much that I learned about him, but that doesn't mean I loved everything about him. I'm fine with his personal religious beliefs, but I don't like religion in my government and public schools, but he believed that religion belonged everywhere. He and I would have been in conflict there.
This book was written by someone who worked for Byrd toward the end of his career and obviously admired him very much. I think it's a good place to start to learn about Byrd, but I'm not sure it's enough. I felt like maybe this author white-washed Byrd a bit, especially on the KKK membership, brief though it was. I certainly know more about Byrd now, but I think I need to learn more. The next place I will turn is an autobiographical book (apparently he wrote many, so I'm not sure if the next one I bought will cover his whole life or just his young life).
The one thing I do come out of reading this book believing is that just giving a eulogy for Byrd is not enough to taint another politician's entire career, but it's not the first or last time that I'll hear someone (including my relatives and friends) say something absurd in the field of politics.
June 5, 2013
What a great book! Corbin tracks Senator Byrd's political rise and juxtaposes it against the backdrop of all 11 presidents with whom he served. While I knew a fair amount about the Senator, this book fills in many gaps and offers detailed reasons for all of his major votes. I do believe anyone interested in Congress, the Presidency, or Robert C. Byrd should read this book. I did find some minor editing mistakes, but nothing to detract from the overall thrust of the text.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews