He was not afraid of standing up against presidents, even if they were fellow Democrats. Just days after the 1968 Tet offensive, the surprise assault against South Vietnamese and American forces that tipped U.S. public opinion against the Vietnam War, he told President Lyndon B. Johnson that American intelligence had failed, that "we should have known, we should have foreseen what happened." Johnson exploded. Byrd held his ground. "Mr. President, I didn't come here to be lectured," he recounted. "I'm no 'yes man.'". You must be wondering who is he he is Robert Carlyle Byrd.
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia, and a member and former Senate Leader of the Democratic Party. Byrd was a Senator from January 3, 1959, until his death, and was the longest-serving Senator, as well as the longest-serving member in congressional history. He was the Dean of the Senate from 2003 to 2010. He was also the oldest member of the current Congress at the time of his death (Strom Thurmond was the oldest to serve in Congressional history), and was the first person to serve uninterrupted for half a century as a U.S. senator.

A spokesman for the family, Jesse Jacobs, said Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. He had been in the hospital since late last week. He was 92.

"We will remember him for his fighter's spirit, his abiding faith, and for the many times he recalled the Senate to its purposes," he said in a statement. "Generations of Americans will read the masterful history of the Senate he leaves behind, and they will also read about the remarkable life of Robert Carlyle Byrd."




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