Cord Byrd: “in my book, ``Child of the Appalachian Coal Fields,'' I discussed the Senate class of 1958. That class, which included…”

“in my book, ``Child of the Appalachian Coal Fields,'' I discussed the Senate class of 1958. That class, which included 15 Democrats and 3 Republicans, constituted the largest turnover over in Senate history, and from that class of Senators came a number of Senate leaders and Presidential candidates. Most important, I pointed out, while elected during the Eisenhower administration, the class of 1958 ``tackled some of the greatest foreign and domestic problems ever to face the Nation, and they played critical roles in enacting the Great Society programs and ending the war in Vietnam.'' One of the most remarkable members of that remarkable class was Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, who passed away this weekend. He played critical roles both in enacting the Great Society programs and ending the war in Vietnam. It was my privilege and my pleasure to serve with Eugene McCarthy in the U.S. House of Representatives and here in the Senate as members of the class of 1958. While serving together, I came to appreciate that Senator McCarthy was a truly gifted and talented person with an extraordinary background. He was, without question, one of the more unusual Members to sit in this chamber. He was a poet, professor, philosopher, and author, and had been a military intelligence official during World War II and a semiprofessional baseball player. In the Senate, as throughout his life, Senator McCarthy did not hesitate to go his own way.…”