Senator Robert Byrd Dies at 92

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) sits in a wheelchair as he is brought to the Senate floor to vote on judge Sonia Sotomayor, on Capitol Hill August 6, 2009 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

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Sen. Robert Byrd, the longest serving US senator in American history, died at 3 a.m. Monday morning, according to information posted on his congressional website.

“The family of US Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., tearfully announces the passing of the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history,” reads Byrd’s site. “Byrd died peacefully at approximately 3 a.m. at Inova Fairfax Hospital.”

The 92-year-old Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, was initially hospitalized from what was thought to be heat exhaustion and dehydration.

However, “other conditions have developed, which has resulted in his condition being described as ’serious,'” according to a statement obtained by the West Virginia newspaper The Charleston Gazette on Sunday.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin released a statement on Sunday saying that “both Gayle and I are thinking about and praying for Sen. Byrd and his family.”

According to the Gazette, Byrd’s health became increasingly worse. He was hospitalized several times in 2008 and had a staph infection in 2009, prompting him to stay in the hospital for six weeks. His wife passed away in 2006 at the age of 88.

Sen. Byrd initially joined the US House of Representatives in 1953, before getting elected to the US Senate in 1959, where he had continued serving to the present.

Last November, Byrd broke the old record held by former US Rep. and Sen. Carl Hayden of Arizona, who held office for 57 years from 1912 to 1969. Robert Byrd is the president pro tempore of the United States Senate, meaning that he is third in line to be president, following Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

After Byrd’s hospitalization in 2009, he was confined to a wheelchair and voted in favor of the sweeping health care reform package in March. The Gazette reports that his “failing health has not stopped him from continuing to serve his constituents.” He voted for an appropriations bill in July 2009, as well as for the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Byrd’s website indicates that details of his death are forthcoming.

A notable fact in a life of politics is Byrd’s interest in the fiddle. From his early years right through his political campaigns he was known for always having his fiddle by his side and not being afraid to use it.

“His skill with the instrument helped to get people’s attention on the stump, and eventually led to performances at the Kennedy Center and on national television,” according to his website. Byrd eventually recorded his own album, Mountain Fiddler.