Byrd began serving in the Senate more than 47 years ago, on Jan. 3, 1959, after spending six years in the House of Representatives and six years in the West Virginia Legislature.

He also has cast more votes by far than any member of the Senate: 17,662 times, as of last Friday.

"I consider him to be the pillar of the Senate," says Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md. "His commitment to the United States Senate and its history, customs and procedures is equaled only by his commitment to the state of West Virginia, our nation and our Constitution."

Byrd's impact on fellow senators personally rivals his institutional role, some of his colleagues said.

"Senator Byrd has been a very, very important figure in my life," said Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican. "He is such a magnificent teacher of the history the Senate."

Warner recalls a conversation he had with Byrd when Warner was new to the Senate. "He said, 'At one time, our states were together. I don't want to put them back together, but I want to work together as full and equal partners,'" Warner said.

"I enjoy the man," Warner said. "He is wonderful."

Up to now, the Senate's longest-serving member had been the late Strom Thurmond, R-S.C. The third- and fourth-longest-serving members are Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, both of whom have been there more than 43 years.

"Byrd epitomizes the role that the framers of our Constitution envisioned for the legislative branch," Sarbanes said.

In fact, The Almanac of American Politics, a widely consulted volume on federal politics, describes Byrd as the politician who "may come closer to the kind of senator the Founding Fathers had in mind than any other."

Since President Bush took office, Byrd has been one of the Senate's leading voices on challenging the war in Iraq, preserving Social Security and protecting workers' jobs and safety.

Despite his strong positions, however, Byrd said he regrets the increasing animosity in both legislative bodies. He said he has always worked to be bipartisan.

"I thank the people of West Virginia for having repeatedly expressed their faith in me," Byrd said. "I never lose sight of that. Every morning of every day of my life, my first thought is, 'What can I do today for West Virginia?'"

Byrd's contribution to the state has been immense, said Gov. Joe Manchin and members of West Virginia's congressional delegation.

"I don't know of a person in West Virginia who has not been touched, or benefited in a most positive way, by Senator Byrd's service," Manchin said. "I mean, Democrats, Republicans, independents and people who don't vote - they all benefit."

Byrd has long been known as a "legend" in West Virginia, said Jay Rockefeller, Byrd's junior Democratic colleague for the state. "But now he has surpassed even the great legends of the Senate to become the longest serving senator in U.S. history."

He can take credit for "highways, dams, bridges, federal facilities and jobs, health centers and educational institutions," Rockefeller said. "And the best part is, he's not finished."

"What do you get when you multiply the power of the beacon by the strength of a workhorse by the steadiness of an anchor? Robert C. Byrd," said Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va.

Byrd's "ability to deliver for our state" is awe-inspiring, said David Hardesty, the president of West Virginia University. "His votes are guided by his understanding of the Constitution and by his dedication to the people of this state."

Manchin also emphasized Byrd's future.

"People also need to know that Senator Byrd has a lot of years of service left in him," he said. "When people ask about what he has done, he says, 'I want to talk about people who can help me do what we still need to do.'"

Born in Wilkesboro, N.C., in 1917, Byrd grew up in a coal mining family in Sophia, Raleigh County.

Nearly 20 years later, he married Erma Ora James, who passed away on March 25 of this year. Today, Mrs. Byrd would have turned 89.

"She was the greatest pillar of strength, a central pillar of my life, during the many years God put us together," Byrd said. "I am doing what I think she would want me to do."

Byrd's perseverance in the face of personal losses is remarkable, Warner, his longtime Senate colleague, said.

"His devotion to his family is second to none in the Senate," Warner said. "He lost his grandson. I went to the funeral of his wife. He always emerged, shouldered the loss, stuck out his chin and carried on."

Byrd recalls his upbringing in his recently published autobiography, "Robert C. Byrd: Child of the Appalachian Coalfields."

"Every day, when I get up in the morning, I remember what I am - a country boy. I am really a boy who came up from scratch in West Virginia.

"I have known the people's hardships. I have known the lot of the people Erma and I came up with through the Great Depression. I know how much prosperity the rest of the country experienced and how much West Virginia was bypassed, how much of Appalachia was bypassed."

West Virginia continues to lag other states in important areas, and that's what motivates him, Byrd says.

"Today, there are still people in West Virginia - and across the country - that do not have safe drinking water, and who have to take a bus a long way to see a doctor," the longest-serving senator said. "The people of West Virginia are my bosses. I try to help them where I can."

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.