About the Author

David A. Corbin served as a Senate staffer for twenty-six years—six years on the leadership staff of Senate majority leader Byrd and ten years on the leadership staffs of Senate majority leaders George Mitchell and Tom Daschle. He also served as Senator Byrd’s speechwriter for the last ten years of his career. Corbin is the author of The West Virginia Mine Wars: An Anthology (1990) and Life, Work, and Rebellion in the Coal Fields: The Southern West Virginia Miners, 1880–1920 (1981). He received his PhD in history from the University of Maryland and lives in Annapolis.

Reviews

"Superbly written, enhanced with extensive notes, a bibliographic essay, and a comprehensive index, The Last Great Senator: Robert C. Byrd's Encounters with Eleven U.S. Presidents is a unique and highly recommended contribution..."—Review, The Midwest Book Review, January 2013

“In my Senate leadership lecture on July 14, 1998, I discussed how Sen. Robert Byrd and I made an agreement to work together to make the Senate operate smoothly and productively. ‘It was an agreement,’ I said, that ‘we never broke, not once in the eight years we served together as Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate.’ Determined to document Byrd’s place in American history, David Corbin has detailed the incredible career and accomplishments of the distinguished Senator from West Virginia by focusing on his encounters with the last eleven presidents. I hope this book will become a must read for people interested not only in Senator Byrd, but the U.S. Senate and the presidency. I thank David for putting this book together about my good friend and former colleague.”—Sen. Howard Baker (R-TN), former Senate majority leader

“Sen. Robert C. Byrd was my predecessor as the majority leader of the U.S. Senate. When he cast his twelve thousandth vote in the Senate, I stated, ‘There are few honors greater than to be able to say that we served in the U.S. Senate with Robert Byrd.’ Now David Corbin has produced this much-needed account of Byrd’s life and career: how he embodied the Senate as an institution, how he was a powerful reminder to presidents and senators of the need to abide by the Constitution, and how he was a crucial part of American history for more than a half century. And he always remained so proud of his southern West Virginia roots. This is an important story that needed to be told, and David tells it so well.”—Sen. George Mitchell (D-ME), former Senate majority leader

“Robert C. Byrd grew in stature remarkably over his six decades of political power. From his beginning as a self-described ‘rustic boob from West Virginia,’ he slowly rose to become the mighty ‘conscience of the Senate’—one of the few brave enough to oppose George W. Bush’s unnecessary Iraq invasion. I was Byrd’s first press secretary when he entered the Senate in 1959, and I watched him evolve. David Corbin does a superb job of telling this important American story.”—James A. Haught, editor, Charleston (WV) Gazette