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He was raised in west virginia's coal mining communities by his aunt and uncle byrd and took their name. his hard start may have been one of the reasons that byrd made his mark as a hardline conservative on national spending issues. >> we can't afford to give this administration or any other administration a blank check. >> reporter: and a reformer on campaign financing. >> to rise above partisanship and really do something about our present sorry system of financing federal campaigns. >> reporter: a student of history, byrd dressed as a confederate officer in a cameo role. but it was a role t...

Speaker, and perhaps a better name for byrd would have been the bard of the senate. >> all freshly steeped in morning dews. so wrote the poet robert burns. >> reporter: in the political arena, the source of his influence in the capitol was his long tenure on the senate appropriate operations committee. he came from modest roots. >> i loved in a house without electricity, no running water, no telephone, a little wooden outhouse. i started out in life without any rungs in the bottom of the ladder. i married a koal miner's daughter. >> reporter: he was born in 1917 and raised in west virginia's m...