Harry F. Byrd, Jr.
| Harry F. Byrd Jr. | |
|---|---|
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United States Senator from Virginia |
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In office November 12, 1965 – January 3, 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Harry F. Byrd, Sr. |
| Succeeded by | Paul S. Trible Jr. |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the 24th district |
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In office January 8, 1958 – November 12, 1965 |
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| Preceded by | George S. Aldhizer II |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the 25th district |
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In office January 14, 1948 – January 8, 1958 |
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| Preceded by | Burgess E. Nelson |
| Succeeded by | Edward O. McCue Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Harry Flood Byrd Jr. December 20, 1914 Winchester, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | July 30, 2013 (aged 98) Winchester, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party |
Democratic (Before 1970) Independent Democrat (1970–2013) |
| Spouse(s) | Gretchen Bigelow Thomson (1941–1989) |
| Children | Harry, III Thomas Beverley |
| Alma mater |
Virginia Military Institute University of Virginia |
| Profession | Orchardist - apples Newspaper Publisher |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
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| Service/branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1941–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant commander |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Harry Flood Byrd Jr. (December 20, 1914 – July 30, 2013) was an American orchardist, newspaper publisher and politician. He served in the Senate of Virginia and then represented Virginia in the United States Senate, for an aggregate of thirty-six years in elected public office. He was the first independent in the history of the U.S. Senate to be elected by a majority of the popular vote.
Byrd was born December 20, 1914 in Winchester, Virginia, the eldest child of Harry F. Byrd Sr. and wife Anne Byrd (née Beverley). His siblings included a sister, Westwood ("Westie") and two brothers, Richard Evelyn (Dick) and Beverley. He was a member of one of the First Families of Virginia, including his uncle Richard E. Byrd, a pilot and polar explorer. On August 9, 1941 Byrd married Gretchen Thompson. They had two sons, Harry and Thomas, and a daughter Beverley.
In 1931, at the urging of his father, Byrd enrolled at Virginia Military Institute; two years later he transferred to the University of Virginia, where he became a member of the St. Anthony Hall fraternity. He left the University in 1935 to shore up his father's newspaper, The Winchester Star. He also gave up an opportunity to join a global business in Paris. The Star had been without a full-time editor since his father had left to represent Virginia in the United States Senate in 1933. Upon his joining the paper, his father warned him, "If you make too many mistakes, you're gone." Within a year his son became editor and publisher while his father retained financial control and advised him on editorials.
Byrd later assumed membership and then leadership roles on the paper's board of directors, dedicating 78 years to the enterprise in one capacity or another. Early in his career he also learned the business under the tutelage of John Crown at the Harrisonburg Daily News Record. Byrd was the publisher of that newspaper from 1936 to 1941 and again from 1946 to 1981, and was a member of its board until his death. He later became owner, until 1987, of the Page Shenandoah Newspaper Corporation, which published The Page News and Courier in Luray and The Shenandoah Valley Herald in . He retired as Chairman of the Byrd newspapers in 2001, and his son Thomas succeeded him; indeed, the company has been owned by the family for more than 100 years.
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