Adoption and Foster Care Biographies - Biography of Adoptee Senator Robert C Byrd

Biography of Senator Robert C. Byrd

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Identity:
Adoptee, politician

Born:
November 20, 1917 - North Carolina

Birth Name:
Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr.

Bio:
Byrd was born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. His mother died in 1918 or 1919 during the flu pandemic and his father sent him to live with and be adopted by her sister and brother-in-law, an impoverished mining family in West Virginia. He graduated from high school first in his class but was too poor to go to university full time. Working days and studying nights he eventually opened his own store, while his charismatic Sunday school teaching led to his becoming a prominent religious broadcaster.

He entered the West Virginia state legislature in 1948 and the US Congress in 1958, in spite of an alleged history of involvement with the Ku Klux Klan, which he later repudiated. He continued to study, earning several university degrees while in Congress. He worked his way through the chairmanships of several Senate committees, chief whip, etc., to become Senate majority leader in 1977-79 and 1987-88 and minority leader 1980-87. He is famous as a legislative tactician and is still in the Senate after 40 years.

Elsewhere on the Web:

• The Washington Post: The Unyielding Robert Byrd
  
• "A Biography of Senator Byrd"
  

Source: Roger Fenton's database of Famous Adoptees, Foster Children and Others. Used by permission.


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