Remembering Robert Byrd

Humble Origins
Born in North Carolina, but sent to live with a foster uncle in West Virginia after his mother died, Byrd discovered a gift for oratory early on and first ran for public office - a delegate in the West Virginia House - in 1946. His growing political ambitions were partially derailed by the revelation that he had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1940's, but by 1958, when this photo was taken, he was a candidate for U.S. Senator from the state of West Virginia, a contest he would win handily.

• Byrd Obit
• TIME's 1978 Cover Story on Byrd and Congress