Senator Robert Byrd Dies: From KKK Member To Obama Supporter (PHOTOS)

Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a fiery orator versed in the classics and a hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to the state of his Depression-era upbringing, died Monday. He was 92. 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.

At first Byrd was believed to be suffering from heat exhaustion and severe dehydration, but other medical conditions developed. He had been in frail health for several years. Once a member of the Ku Klux Klan, Byrd spent most of his life guilty of his racist past. Within his career he has played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement of 1964. He has appropriated money to many civil rights leaders and most recently backed the country’s first African-American President.

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