Beverly Byron | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's6th district | |
| In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Goodloe Byron |
| Succeeded by | Roscoe Bartlett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Beverly Barton Butcher (1932-07-27)July 27, 1932 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | February 9, 2025(2025-02-09) (aged 92) Frederick, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
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| Alma mater | Hood College |
Beverly Barton Byron (néeButcher; July 27, 1932 – February 9, 2025) was an American politician and member of theDemocratic Party who served as theU.S. Congresswoman representing the6th congressional district ofMaryland from January 3, 1979, to January 3, 1993.
Beverly Barton Butcher was born inBaltimore, Maryland, on July 27, 1932, to Ruth (née Barton) andHarry C. Butcher, aCBS radio broadcaster and naval aide to GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower duringWorld War II.[1] During her childhood, her family lived in theWardman Park Hotel, and her father's connections inWashington, D.C. enabled her to meet and befriend powerful figures such as PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt,Eleanor Roosevelt, and Dwight andMamie Eisenhower. Her godfather was political operativeGeorge E. Allen.[2][3]
Butcher graduated from theNational Cathedral School for Girls in Washington in 1950, and later earned a two-year degree fromHood College inFrederick, Maryland, in 1962. In 1952, she marriedGoodloe Byron.[1] She became involved in several nonprofit groups and in fundraising for the Democratic Party.[1] She was first elected to Congress in 1978, succeeding her husband,Goodloe Byron, who died of a heart attack a month before the election. Recalling her husband's sudden death and her subsequent elevation to office, she later reflected, "Within 24 hours I was a widow, a single parent, unemployed and a candidate for Congress".[1] Though it was initially assumed that she would only serve a single term, she remained in Congress for a total of fourteen years, re-elected six times and serving until 1993.[1]
In Congress, Byron particularly focused on military and national security issues. A conservative Democrat, she opposedabortion and supported the fiscal policies of theReagan administration.[1] She served on theHouse Armed Services Committee, theInterior and Insular Affairs Committee, and theSelect Committee on Aging.[2] She chaired the House Special Panel on Arms Control and Disarmament from 1983 to 1986, and backed the development of theMX Missile. In 1987, she became chairwoman of theMilitary Personnel and Compensation Subcommittee, beating out the decisively liberalPat Schroeder, the preferred choice ofArmed Services Committee chairmanLes Aspin.[2] She was the first woman to chair an Armed Services subcommittee, and the first woman ever to fly aboard theSR-71 Blackbird of theUSAF (checkout #429), on which she flew as a VIP in November 1985.[1]
Byron was defeated in the 1992 Democratic primary by a somewhat more liberal challenger,State DelegateThomas Hattery, who in turn lost toRepublican nomineeRoscoe Bartlett in the general election.[1] After leaving Congress, she served as a commissioner on the1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.[4] In 1995, PresidentBill Clinton appointed her to theUnited States Naval Academy Board of Visitors and she was also a member of the Board of Regents for thePotomac Institute for Policy Studies.[2]
Beverly and Goodloe Byron had three children.[1] In 1986, she married B. Kirk Walsh, who had worked as an official in theUnited States Department of Housing and Urban Development; he died in 2019.[1] Byron died from heart failure at her home inFrederick, Maryland, on February 9, 2025, at the age of 92.[1]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's 6th congressional district 1979–1993 | Succeeded by |
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