The Gentleman from Virginia

The meeting was cordial. And after it was all over, President Kennedy escorted the senior Senator from Virginia out of the White House oval office. Said Kennedy good-naturedly: "Senator Byrd and I have agreed on everything." Everybody within earshot knew, of course, that the complete opposite was true.

In the outer office, Harry Byrd ran into Presidential Aide Lawrence O'Brien. Only a few weeks before, O'Brien had attended one of Byrd's superb spring parties at Rosemont, his estate in Berryville, Va. Now, Byrd shook O'Brien's hand: "It was certainly nice of you to come down to my place the other day. We enjoyed having you." When Byrd left, another presidential aide incredulously asked O'Brien: "He's the guy who's against us?"

He sure is. Byrd is personally fond of Kennedy: "He's a very attractive person. He's got ability. No question about that." But as a pay-as-you-go Democratic conservative, Byrd is unalterably opposed to many of Kennedy's big-spending, big-Government programs. And as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Byrd can give the Administration fits.

How to Play. Byrd's committee must pass on three of the New Frontier's most important measures--medical care, foreign trade and tax revision. In similar circumstances, many committee chairmen would simply pigeonhole at least a couple of the bills in committee. But Byrd does not play that way. "You haven't agreed with me at times," Kennedy recently told Byrd, "but at least you haven't tried to bottle anything up."

The way Byrd does fight is by prestige and persuasion. He is opposed to the Administration's medical care program, but he is not worrying too much about it; he assumes it will be held over by the House Ways and Means Committee (TIME, June 1). He is a longtime advocate of liberalized foreign trade, but he has not yet made known his views about the particulars of the Administration bill. He is dead set against much of the President's tax-revision plan, especially the provision that would require businesses and banks to withhold a tax on dividends and interest. Says Byrd: "The businesses of this country pay the highest taxes in the world, and I don't see why they should have to turn around and go through such a very costly process of collecting taxes for the Government."

That being the case, Byrd is determined that his committee will study the tax bill hard--and slowly. He recently insisted that the entire 254-page bill be read twice aloud to the committee. But even the New Frontiersmen admit that Harry Byrd, 74, is playing well within the rules. Last month Byrd could easily have got a committee vote against the proposed withholding tax. "He could have ruined us," says a White House official. "But he didn't. Why not? Because to do it then would have been to force a vote after only the most nominal sort of committee discussion, and Harry Byrd is just too responsible to handle tax legislation that way--even if he's against it."

AMatter of Right. Byrd's code of conduct is one reason why the Senate listens when he speaks on fiscal matters. Thus the chamber paid special heed last week, when Byrd arose to note that the total value of current U.S. debts and future obligations comes to a staggering $1.2 trillion. In an article for Tax Review, Byrd also explained how inflation, caused by Government deficits, has shrunk the dollar to a value of 46.1-c- based on the 1939 index.

"I just go on my regular course," says Byrd. "All that I'm doing now is just a continuation of what I've always done. In the main I voted against Roosevelt--except on war questions. I voted against Truman, and I certainly voted against Eisenhower on economic matters. What I try to do is to ignore party lines completely and vote my best judgment. I don't claim to have any special virtues at all. I just vote for what I think is right."

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