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Participation in the Ku Klux Klan
In the early 1940s, Byrd joined the Ku Klux Klan , which he had seen holding parades as a child . He "recruited 150 of his friends and associates to form a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan . After Byrd had collected the $10 joining fee and $3 charge for a robe and hood from every applicant , the Grand Dragon Joel L. Baskin for the mid-Atlantic states came down to tiny Crab Orchard , West Virginia to officially organize the chapter... "When it came time to choose the Exalted Cyclops , the top officer in the local Klan unit , Byrd won unanimously ." [1] Byrd , in his autobiography , attributed the beginnings of his political career to this incident , though he lamented that they involved the Klan . According to Byrd 's recollection , Baskin told him, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob ... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation ." Byrd recalls that "suddenly lights flashed in my mind ! Someone important had recognized my abilities . I was only 23 or 24, and the thought of a political career had never struck me. But strike me that night , it did." [2]
He participated in the KKK for a period of time during World War II , holding the titles " Kleagle ", which indicated a Klan recruiter, and "Exalted Cyclops ." Byrd did not serve in the military during the war, working instead as a welder in a Baltimore shipyard , assembling warships .
When running for Congress in 1952, he announced , "After about a year, I became disinterested , quit paying my dues, and dropped my membership in the organization . During the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan ." During this campaign, "Byrd went on the radio to acknowledge that he belonged to the Klan from 'mid- 1942 to early 1943,' according to newspaper accounts . He explained that he had joined 'because it offered excitement and because it was strongly opposed to communism .'" ibid .
Byrd has often referred to his Klan membership as a mistake of his youth . As recently as 1997, he told an interviewer he'd encourage young people to become involved in politics , but with this warning : "Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan . Don't get that albatross around your neck . Once you've made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena." Conservatives repeatedly point up his KKK membership to discredit him today , and his fellow Democratic Senators , as hypocritical . [3]
During the campaign, Byrd 's Republican opponent "uncovered a letter Byrd had handwritten to [...] the KKK Imperial Wizard , recommending a friend as a Kleagle and urging promotion of the Klan throughout the country. The letter was dated 1946 -- when Byrd was 29 years old and long after the time Byrd claimed he had lost interest in the Klan . 'The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia ,' Byrd wrote, according to newspaper accounts of that period ." ibid
During his campaign for the U S Senate in 1958, when Byrd was 41 years old, Byrd defended the Klan . He argued that the KKK had been incorrectly blamed for much of the violence in the South . [4]
In the 1960 Presidential election primaries , Byrd , a close ally of Lyndon B. Johnson , then Senate Majority Leader, tried to derail the Democratic front-runner and ultimately successful candidate John F Kennedy in the crucial West Virginia primary . "Kennedy allies retaliated with leaks to the press about Byrd 's work as a Klan organizer ." [5]
Byrd later joined with other southern Democrats to oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . Byrd filibustered the bill for more than 14 hours, saying it abrogated principles of federalism . He also opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , but voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 , which was a substantially more controversial bill than the previous two as it made racial discrimination in selling homes and renting out apartments illegal.
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Why did the Post protect Byrd 's image ?
Accusations of racism
Some conservatives contend that Byrd 's opposition to President George H. W. Bush 's nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U S Supreme Court in 1991 to replace Thurgood Marshall -- making Byrd the only Senator to have opposed the nomination of both of the only two black Supreme Court justices and Byrd 's 2004 opposition to some of George W. Bush 's judicial and cabinet nominees who are black , notably Federal Judge Janice Rogers Brown and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , was motivated by racism . Niger Innis , a conservative Republican consultant and spokesperson for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE ), a conservative civil rights group , claimed that Byrd 's hold on Rice 's nomination was "racist " and said that Byrd has "black colleagues in the House and the Senate who apologize for him." [6] Byrd has not opposed other people of color that Bush has nominated in the past, voting for Secretary of Education Rod Paige and Secretary of State Colin Powell . The NAACP , the nation 's oldest and largest civil rights organization awarded Byrd a 100% rating in its Congressional score card , based on what they consider his pro-civil rights votes . [7]
On March 4, 2001, an interview with FOX News Sunday host Tony Snow was aired . In the interview Byrd was asked about race relations : "They are much, much better than they've ever been in my lifetime ," Byrd said. "I think we talk about race too much. I think those problems are largely behind us ... I just think we talk so much about it that we help to create somewhat of an illusion . I think we try to have good will. My old mom told me, 'Robert , you can't go to heaven if you hate anybody.' We practice that. There are white niggers . I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time . I'm going to use that word . We just need to work together to make our country a better country, and I'd just as soon quit talking about it so much." [8]
When asked about it, Byrd apologized for the language : "'I apologize for the characterization I used on this program,' he said. 'The phrase dates back to my boyhood and has no place in today 's society . [...] 'In my attempt to articulate strongly held feelings, I may have offended people.'" ibid
Supreme Court filibuster
On May 23, 2005, Byrd was one of fourteen Senators to forge a compromise on the Democrats ' use of the judicial filibuster , thus blocking the Republican leadership's attempt to implement the " nuclear option ". Under the agreement, the Democrats would retain the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee in only an "Extraordinary circumstance", and three conservative Bush appellate court nominees ( Janice Rogers Brown , Priscilla Owen and William H. Pryor , Jr . ) would receive a vote by the full Senate .
Byrd broke from his party 's stance during the confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel Alito . On January 26th, 2006, Byrd announced his support for Alito 's confirmation