One liberal scold called the senator “a steadfast opponent of most of the twentieth century,” but Byrd wore his antiprogress politics as a badge of pride. A colleague said that as chair of the all-powerful Senate Finance Committee, Byrd “measured his success as a senator not by what he passed, but what he stopped from passing.” In his view, if liberty was to be preserved, the federal government should provide for the national defense and law enforcement, and little else.
