Ku Klux Klan
In the early 1940s, Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to create a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in Sophia, West Virginia.
[11][15]
As a young boy, Byrd had witnessed his adoptive father walk in a Klan parade in
Matoaka, West Virginia.
[26] While growing up, Byrd had heard that "the Klan defended the American way of life against racemixers and communists".
[27] He then wrote to Joel L. Baskin, Grand Dragon of the Realm of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, who responded that he would come and organize a chapter when Byrd had recruited 150 people.
[26]
It was Baskin who told Byrd, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob ... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." Byrd later recalled, "Suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities! I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did."
[28] Byrd became a
recruiter and leader of his chapter.
[15] When it came time to elect the top officer (Exalted Cyclops) in the local Klan unit, Byrd won unanimously.
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