Editing Robert Byrd (section)

==In popular culture==
Byrd had a prominent role in the 2008 [[Warner Bros.]] documentary ''[[Body of War]]'' directed by [[Phil Donahue]]. The film chronicles the life of [[Tomas Young]], paralyzed from the chest down after a sniper shot him as he was riding in a vehicle in Iraq. Several long clips of Byrd show him passionately arguing against authorizing the use of force in Iraq. Later in the movie, Byrd has a one-on-one interview with Tomas Young in Byrd's Senate office, followed by a shot of Byrd walking beside Young as they leave the Capitol.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kingston |first1=Chris R. |title=Body of War |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2008/4/11/body-of-war-body-of-war/ |website=thecrimson.com |publisher=The Harvard Crimson, Inc. |access-date=25 April 2022}}</ref>

A fictionalized version of Byrd, then the Senate Majority Leader, was a character in the [[Jeffrey Archer]] novel ''[[Shall We Tell the President?]]''<ref>{{cite web |last1=Archer |first1=Jeffrey |title=Shall We Tell the President |url=https://www.jeffreyarcher.com/extract/shall-we-tell-the-president/ |website=jeffreyarcher.com |access-date=25 April 2022}}</ref>

Byrd was an avid [[violin|fiddle]] player for most of his life, starting in his teens when he played in various square dance bands. Once he entered politics, his fiddling skills attracted attention and won votes. In 1978 when Byrd was majority leader, he recorded an album called ''U.S. Senator Robert Byrd: Mountain Fiddler'' (County, 1978). Byrd was accompanied by [[The Country Gentlemen|Country Gentlemen]] [[Doyle Lawson]], James Bailey, and Spider Gilliam. Most of the LP consists of bluegrass music. Byrd covers "Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die", a [[Zeke Manners]] song, and "[[Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)|Will the Circle Be Unbroken]]". He had performed at the [[Kennedy Center]], on the [[Grand Ole Opry]] and on ''[[Hee Haw]]''. He occasionally took a break from Senate business to entertain audiences with his fiddle.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} He stopped playing in 1982 when the symptoms of a benign [[essential tremor]] had begun to affect the use of his hands.<ref>
{{YouTube|EckFI141wX4|Larry King Live}}, Time frame: 04:05, verified May 9, 2007</ref>

Byrd appeared in the Civil War movie ''[[Gods and Generals (film)|Gods and Generals]]'' in 2003 along with then-Virginia senator [[George Felix Allen|George Allen]]. Both played [[General officers in the Confederate States Army|Confederate States officers]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Sean Loughlin and Robert Yoon, CNN Washington Bureau|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/02/21/movie.lawmakers|title='Gods and Generals'—and Congress|work=CNN|date=February 21, 2003|access-date=June 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424193415/http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/02/21/movie.lawmakers/|archive-date=April 24, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>