West Virginia’s Billion Dollar Man

Note: This post was previously listed under our "News from the Grey Box" blog series 

Here at the Byrd Archive, we are often asked: “How much money did Senator Byrd bring to West Virginia?”
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We’ve always been able to answer in general terms (“billions!”), but now we’re working to get a more specific and accurate total.

A listing of some of Senator Byrd’s projects in West Virginia

Jody Brumage, our assistant archivist, has been compiling the appropriations figures from two major sources. The first is a report compiled by one of Byrd’s staff covering the years 1989-2000 that gives a state-wide total for each year. The other is a set of county-by-county reports (1970s-1982) that was also compiled by his staff.
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Of course, we’ll have to fill in the missing dates, but we’ve gone a long way toward putting a total to West Virginia’s Billion Dollar Man. So far, we’re up to $7,350,312,380…

Though his critics called him the “King of Pork,” Senator Byrd was proud of bringing resources to his home state.