He went on to get his law degree, and he had president kennedy come to present his diploma at his graduation. But i thought here he was in a body full of rhodes scholars and yale and stanford and harvard graduates and all of the ivy leaguers with terrific education. He never felt inferior about that. He felt that he never ended his education. He was always reading, he was always studying. I once went with him to an event, and i looked at the back of his car and there was the count of month cristo, and i was surprised, and he said, i never got to read it. Irma byrd complained she could never dust her table because she was bringing books home from the library of congress always stacked up and he was working on them. In 1980 he gave an impromptu speech at his grand Daughters School class, which was in the gallery. He gave a speech about the history of the chamber of the senate. Several senators came up after and said i didnt know that. Thats interesting. So he began to give more impromptu speeches on everything that the senate did, the parliamentarian, the chaplain, the rules. He came for the bicentennial of the Congress Going to be in 1989, i want to give a series of speeches that could be published as a book on the history of the senate. We worked very closely with him for about ten years. Usually quiet friday afternoons when no one else had business, he would go on the floor and deliver the speeches. He would memorize them. He finished that. He went on to study the romans and the british parliament. Just constantly studying things. That gave him a huge advantage on the floor of the senate. He also studied the rules and precedents, he used to read through the precedents book, which is about 1,000 pages. With a yellow marker, going over it. If you were on the floor and you were arguing with senator byrd on an issue, he knew the rules and he also knew the history. It was a very hard combination do get around. Very few wanted to challenge him on the floor. He came into office after being with four mike mansfield. Nance field was a laidback leader who believed all senators were equal and he was not the ringmaster in the senatorial circus. But senator byrd admired Lyndon Johnson. He also admired Richard Drexel who knew the rules inside out. Byrd spent a long time studying the rules of the senate, studying the procedures. And he was determined when he became leader he was going to make the rules, make the senate work more efficiently. He cracked the whip a lot more than his predecessor had as leader. He was a very tough negotiator. But he also worked closely with the republican counterparts. Senator baker became the republican leader when senator byrd became the democratic leader. They worked together. They got the panama canal treaty passed together. Senator baker had to face senator byrd. He said, he went up to senator byrd the other day and said, im going to make a deal. I wont surprise you if you dont surprise me. Byrd said let me think about that. At the end of the day, byrd came back and said, i agree. That was the working relationship. They did not blind side each other. That kind of cooperation helped make the senate work. Even when they were fighting they did it i the rules and they respected each other as colleagues. Donald richie, thank you very much. My pleasure. We will continue our look at the historical role of the Senate Majority leader with a lecture from robert byrd of west virginia. First a conversation from 2010 with senator mitch mcconnell. He talks about the history and tradition of the u. S. Senate. As you come to work each day what is this building represent to you . The history of the United States and the symbol of the greatest and oldest democracy in the world. I think about it almost every day as i walk into a structure which was only partially opened when the government moved down here from philadelphia in may of 1800. It has sort of been developing in phases, the greatest development i guess prior to the civil war. Described this office for someone who has never been here and what happened in the past. This space was habitable right at the beginning when the government came down here from philadelphia. I dont know whether the walls were in place in the same way but the house of representatives , which was then obviously much smaller, met in this area and the historic 36 ballot house of representatives voted to determine whether Thomas Jefferson or aaron burr would become president. It happened right in here with 36 ballots. Its no longer possible as a result of a constitutional amendment adopted after that. Shortly thereafter the house moved down to statuary hall. This was the place where they began the library of congress which conveniently a few years later in the war of 1812 provided the fuel for the british when they burned the capitol. They also burned the white house while they were here. And interestingly enough, that of course destroyed the library. And when the library was restarted, it was started with Thomas Jeffersons books which he donated to the government and are still on display. They have Thomas Jeffersons books there. Henry clay seems to be inescapable as youre walking to the office, you go across the hall in the Old Senate Chamber. What is it about henry clay that interests you and do you think about him sometimes . Henry clay was kentuckys most famous statesman. Ran for president three times. Never made it. After which he declared hed rather be right than president. He didnt say that before he was trying to be president. Many people felt that clay was a great compromiser. Involved in a compromise in 1820 that involved admission of new states, whether they would be free or slave states, which kicked off a great debate in congress over slavery. He somehow managed to reconcile the differences and 30 years later, in 1850 toward the end of his life, he died two years later. Was the compromise of 1850 upon which i did my senior thesis in college. And that was yet another admission of new states, whether they would be slaves or free. Clay was widely credited over those years as trying to figure away for the country do expand and still remain a union. Even though clay was a slave holder, as many in kentucky were, he was for union first. Had he lived to the civil war, my guess is me would have been a union guy. And in kentucky, we had brother against brother. We never seceded. But were torn in the civil war, some went north some went south. Clay would have done it for the union. Where in this building do you most feel his presence . I think here. This is where i am most of the time. I assume that clay was in this building in this space, frequently. This space was home at various times in the history of the capital, of the Supreme Court offices. The Vice President had the offices in here. Since the early 50s. Since the time of robert taft, the republican leader from ohio, its been the office of the republican leader of the Senate Whether the party was in the majority or the minority, we didnt switch offices. For the last 50 or 60 years, it has been continuously used as the office of the republican leader of the senate. Across the hall at the Old Senate Chamber, talking clay. His nickname back then it was dictator. Do you get a sense of not only him but the history of the senate when you walk into the Old Senate Chamber . In particular, thats where the great debates occurred with clay and webster and calhoun. They were more famous than the people who got to be president , with the exception of andrew jackson. It was a period of Senate Dominance in our history. The chamber is remarkably small. It is amazing they could get many people in. Before radio or television listening to a Senate Debate was great entertainment. When people knew clay or webster was going to speak, they wanted to get in and listen to it. Clay was among the better speakers in the history of our country and quite possibly the best and most persuasive speaker in that era. What does the senate use that space for now he . Today its used primarily for occasional meetings. And to display to tourists. Its open to tourists virtually every day the capitol is open. We use it occasionally for the Party Conferences. The Democrats Use it for Party Conferences from time to time. But for the most part, itss a ceremonial space now, not one continuously used. As you walk down the hall in 1860, the senate moves to the current chamber. Take us up to today. When you walk into that chamber, what are some of the thoughts that go through your head . There is rarely a day goes by that i dont think of their the responsibility that weve all been given by our constituents to take care of the nation, to look out for the president the present and the future. We have great debates even today and great speakers even though listening to politicians speak is no longer high on the list of peoples entertainment priorities. We have 100 dedicated men and women and different points of view who are all equally dedicated to our country and what it stands for. Although we may have different approaches to issues that come before us, we all have a common belief in america and its destiny. You came here as a senator in 1985, right when Television Began covering the senate. What is your impression hough that changed or did not change . Ironically, i believe the first issue was the vote in the senate. I was one of 15 who voted against it. I think i was wrong. I think television has done no damage whatsoever to the senate. Its probably a good thing that we did that. But i did vote against it. Theres a tradition in there of signing the desks, and henry clay has a special desk. Can you explain to us the desks in the Senate Chamber . The ones in the early part of the 20th well, all of the desks are originals now. I mentioned earlier in our discussion the british burning the capitol. Obviously that destroyed the first set of desks. But since that time, all of the desks are still in use. Obviously the number of desks has grown as the number of states have grown over the years. There werent 100 desks in there after they rebuilt the desks after the british. But when i was a senior senator from kentucky and not the republican leader, i used a clay desk, it was a resolution that i got passed by the senate assigning the clay desk to the senior senator from kentucky whoever that is. When i became the republican leader, i passed it off to my junior colleague because theres also a leader desk that has significance that has been used continuously by Republican Leaders since the 30s and i wanted to be a part of that as well. And in response to your earlier question about carving your name in the in the drawer, that began in the early part of the 20th century so henry clays desk did not have henry clay carved in there by henry clay. But you will see famous names on many of the desks that go back to when that started when that custom started in the early part of the 20th century. When the senate works at its best . Well, the senate is a place of the senate works at its best when theres unlimited debate and no rules. Its hard to understand, in the United States senate, if a bill is called up you can offer any kind of amendment to that bill. It has unlimited debate unless 60 senators want to end the debate. We are a free flowing and slow moving legislative body. In fact washington was reported to have been asked as he presided over the constitutional convention. What do you think the senate is going to be like . And im told that washington replied its going be like a saucer under a teacup. The tea is going to slosh out of the cup in the saucer and cool off. In other words, it was sort of going to be the brakes in the american legislative process. The house they anticipated would be a place of great passion and quick reaction. And thats the way its remained for all these years. The house will do things quickly. Typically does things quickly. The majority can run the house. The senate takes a super majority of 60 to do almost everything. So rarely does either party achieve a 60vote threshold in the senate. Which means the Minority Party has some power. Power to insist on changing things. Occasionally the power to stop something all together. So things dont move quickly in the senate. It is the cooling off place as washington predicted. On the other side of the coin, when is the senate not at its best . I think the senate is always at its best. I dont have many complaints about the senate. I think its important there be a place in the legislative process where things are thought over, where things are rarely done on a purely partisan basis. It almost always takes some kind of bipartisan buyin to do something in the senate. So it is sort of an institution that moves things to the political center. And kind of takes away the extremes on the political right and the political left. And i think thats been part of the genius of the american experiment that we have avoided as a government, wide swings to the left or to the right, except on rare occasions when one party or the other has had a huge majority and the white house. Going to go back to a little bit of history. Besides this office, do you have a place or two inside the capitol that you enjoy taking visitors to . What would that be . My favorite place is the the area outside of the Senate Chamber. And ill describe excuse me. My favorite place is the area outside of the Senate Chamber and ill describe why i like it. Back in the 50s when lbj, Lyndon Johnson was the democratic leader, he appointed a young senator named john f. Kennedy to be in charge of a committee that picked the five greatest senators of all time. And they went through a laborious process of picking five. The three unanimous picks, not surprisingly were henry clay, daniel webster, and john c. Calhoun, the famous senators of the precivil war period. And each of those senators is depicted by a portrait in the waiting room off of the area of the senate, ive taken constituents there in a number of times. One of the favorite things i like to do as constituents is i have them stand at a certain place and walk across the room and keep their eyes on henry clays eyes. And henry clays eyes will follow them all the way across, which is a good way of introducing my constituents to the fact that henry clay, our kentuckian, is a person quite famous in American History and they will always the youngsters always remember because the eyes follow them all the way across the way. You mentioned before he was from kentucky which was a slave Holding State at the time, how important do you think it is to tell the story of the role that slave labor played in building of the capitol . I think it is important. Its a reflection on what america was at the time. And we have worked hard to cure our original sin of slavery and i think most americans think that we took the ultimate step when we elected an africanamerican as president of the United States. That the ultimate political job in this country and an indication of no matter where america may have started out, we are constantly working on our deficiencies, our mistakes, and trying to correct them and get past them. And we were not the only country in the world that had slavery in that era