There are gentle men in whom gentility finally destroys whatever of iron there was in their souls. There are iron men in whom the iron corroded whatever gentility they possessed. There are men—not many to be sure—in whom the gentility and the iron were preserved in proper balance, each of these attributes to be summoned up as the occasion requires. Such a man was Harry Byrd.
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Statement in tribute to Harry F. Byrd upon his passing, quoted decades later to pay tribute to Harry F. Byrd Jr. by Frank B. Atkinson, Richmond Times-Dispatch, August 11, 2013, "Gentility and Iron, The Legacy of Harry F. Byrd Jr."