Word: byrds
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...next Byrd. William III, committed sins far graver, in the family's view, than the mere stealing of kisses. He blew the family fortune through gambling and wild spending, lost Westover, committed suicide on New Year's Day, 1777. As a French and Indian War colonel, however, he had fought so gallantly that his portrait hangs today in the restored Colonial Capitol in Williamsburg. Most tourists are happily unaware that in the Revolutionary War his sympathies were with George...
...when Harry Flood Byrd was born in Martinsburg, W. Va., the intervening Byrds had made money, mainly as talented lawyers, built some fine mansions in Winchester, Va. Harry's father, Richard, was perhaps the most brilliant of the lot, a spectacular courtroom figure with black hair that seemed electrified, steel-rimmed glasses and a flair for oratory. Richard was a colorful politician-he was elected speaker of the Virginia House after just one term. With offbeat humor, he named his three sons Tom, Dick and Harry (they arrived in reverse order), was to take great pleasure in their later...
...persuaded his father to let him try to save the Star. Save it he did-by scrimping on expenses and contributing a remarkable amount of journalistic ingenuity. Today, the Winchester Star and the Harrisonburg News-Record are prosperous papers operated by the Senator's oldest son, Harry F. Byrd...
Navy Secretary by F.D.R. Byrd had campaigned for Roosevelt, was all aglow at the money-saving promises of the New Deal platform. The glow quickly faded. Byrd recalls the disenchantment: "The first bill I voted for was to preserve the federal solvency, to cut federal expenses 15% across the board. That was the way to do things, and I was all for Roosevelt on things like that. But then this fellow Keynes got hold of him." Soon Byrd was leading the Senate opposition to the AAA, TVA, NRA-and when Roosevelt tried to pack the Supreme Court, Byrd knew that...
Their feud became so fierce that Roosevelt tried to funnel patronage through Byrd enemies in Virginia. Says Byrd: "Not controlling patronage turned out to be a damn good thing for me, because the Depression was still on and everybody was wanting a job. There weren't enough to hand...