Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields

12 A SUPREME COURT NOMINATION?

Chapter 12 z A SUPREME COURT NOMINATION? he race was over, and I had reached the second rung in the Senate leadership ladder. God had answered my prayers, and my Senate colleagues had been faithful in keeping their promises. The dreams of a boy long ago in Wolf Creek Hollow were still coming true.  “What He Deserved – the Whipping Post”  “I am glad that Robert C. Byrd has at last gotten what he deserved: the whipping post.” This came from a letter received in my office from a high school student shortly after I had won the Senate majority whip’s race, but it may be indicative, as are many letters from students, of an interest in the history and duties of the office of whip. This office is not, indeed, a “whipping post”: it is an exacting, demanding, often difficult, always challenging position of great responsibility—not only within the party—but also in the legislative and parliamentary process. Theofficeof whipisaBritishinstitution.Itisfoundinmostcommonwealth countries, which have based their parliaments on that of the United Kingdom. The term“whip”has two distinct parliamentary meanings in England. It refers both to a party official, as in the United States Senate, and also to a written document. Whips were first used in 1621, when notices, known as “circular letters,” were sent to the king’s friends who were members of the House of Commons. Regarding the definition of whip as a party official, Edmund Burke T a supreme court nomination 297 is considered the first to have used the term to denote a party leader in the British Parliament. During a debate he described how ministers had sent for the king’s supporters to the North and West—and even as far away as Paris— “whipping them in.”Burke was referring to the“whipper-in,”a huntsman who kept the hounds from straying from the field during a foxhunt. Party whips did not exist in the United States Senate in the early days, even though our national legislature followed many legislative practices of the English parliament. The first Senate Democratic whip, J. Hamilton Lewis of Illinois, was elected in 1913. The first Republican whip, James Wadsworth of New York, was elected in 1915.  “Two Roads Diverged in a Wood . . . . ”  When the Democratic Caucus met on January 21, 1971, and the dust from battle had cleared, I had won my race against Ted Kennedy by a margin of seven votes, the same margin that I had garnered four years earlier to win the office of conference secretary against Senator Joseph Clark of Pennsylvania. Senator Kennedy emerged from the leadership caucus surprised and embarrassed. But in defeat, he was magnanimous and showed great class. Appearing before news reporters, he declared: “I learned a long time ago that as long as you don’t know how to lose, you don’t deserve to win.” Kennedy acknowledged that there might be speculation that some potential Democratic presidential candidates among the senators had voted against him to reduce his chances of emerging as a candidate in 1972. “But I prefer to think that those who felt Senator Byrd could do the best job voted for him, and those who thought I could, voted for me,”Kennedy said. Kennedy offered no excuses for his defeat, and said that I had been “extremely attentive to the details” of guiding floor action as the Democratic conference secretary. When asked about the effects of his loss on the Democratic 1972 presidential race—which he had already announced that he would not enter—Kennedy said he hoped that he would “now have more time to devote to many of the interests I’m concerned about.” Immediately after winning the whip’s race, I telephoned former President Lyndon Johnson at his Texas ranch. Having already heard a television news report on the outcome of the vote, Johnson was ecstatic. I had stayed in touch with him by phone during the final days prior to the leadership caucus, and he had made some calls to other senators on my behalf. As one of my early 298 chapter 12 mentors in the Senate, he had watched my progress with pride, and I believe he savored my victory as much as I did. Meanwhile, the Ninety-second Congress got under way. The Senate convened at noon, following the leadership caucuses, and as I settled into a...