20 Facts About Byrd Machine

Byrd Machine, or Byrd Organization, was a political machine of the Democratic Party led by former Governor and US Senator Harry F Byrd that dominated Virginia politics for much of the 20th century.

Byrd Machine had served the Wilson Administration during World War I helping with gasoline rationing as a volunteer.

In 1922, with seven years of experience in the Virginia State Senate, Byrd Machine gained statewide prominence by confronting Virginia's powerful lobby of highway builders.

Byrd Machine had gained a lot of related experience when earlier managing the Valley Turnpike.

Byrd Machine feared the state would sacrifice future flexibility by committing too many resources to paying off construction debt.

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In 1923, Byrd Machine was sued for libel by the Virginia Highway Contractors Association because he said their activities "by combination and agreements may be very detrimental" to the State.

Byrd Machine served until 1930, then was elected to the United States Senate in 1933, serving until his retirement in 1965.

Over forty years, Byrd Machine built up relationships with the courthouse cliques, consisting of the constitutional officers in every county.

Several measures that had been in place well before Byrd Machine's time ensured his dominance, especially the poll tax.

The courthouse cliques of the Byrd machine strove to ensure that "reliable" voters' poll taxes were paid on time, often as early as three years before an election.

Byrd Machine made property taxes solely a county and city responsibility.

Byrd Machine had a keen interest in improving roads, dramatically increasing funding for secondary roads.

When that was not enough, he pushed through the Byrd Machine Road Act of 1932, a law that created the state's Virginia Secondary Roads System and gave the state responsibility for maintaining county roads,.

Byrd Machine initiated a "pay as you go" approach to spending, in which no state money was spent until enough taxes and fees were available.

Byrd Machine recognized that his rural constituency where most students left school after eighth grade to go to work on the family farm were less interested in state-supplied services like public education than in lower taxes.

Consequently, many Byrd Machine Democrats began splitting their tickets in national elections as early as the 1930s, well before ticket-splitting became a trend across the South in the 1960s.

Byrd Machine came to lead the "conservative coalition" in the United States Senate, and opposed President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, largely blocking most liberal legislation after 1937.

However, their efforts were short-circuited in 1954, when a little over a month after the Brown v Board of Education decision by the US Supreme Court, Byrd vowed to block any attempts to integrate Virginia's public schools.

Byrd Machine decreed a policy of "massive resistance" to integrating the state's public schools which he rationalized on anti-miscegenation grounds.

Byrd Machine was joined by Virginia's other Senator, A Willis Robertson, and most other members of the organization.