Former United States Senator Carte Goodwin, left, answers a question posed by Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education Director Zachary Dougherty, after presenting the 2025 Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture in the center’s auditorium on Sept. 17. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The 20th annual Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture was held in the auditorium of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education on Sept. 17.

Former U.S. Senator Carte Goodwin (D-WV) gave the Constitution Day lecture, which focused on former U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) and his love for the U.S. Constitution and the state of West Virginia. But, before discussing those more serious topics, the litigation and appellate advocacy lawyer made a joke about his short-lived political career — a four month span of time, which finished out the remainder of United States Senator Robert Byrd’s final term in office, after his passing on June 28, 2010.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t begin by making one technical correction to the record. Although, strictly speaking, it is accurate that I served a little less than half a year in the Senate, back in 2010, to fill the vacancy caused by Senator Byrd, that’s not typically how I’d describe my tenure,” Goodwin said. “I prefer to say that Senator Byrd and I combined, to serve a number of 52 years in the Senate. You can look it up! By that measure, we’re one of the longest serving duos in Senate history.

“In all seriousness, honestly, it was and will always remain my enduring privilege, to have represented West Virginia in the Senate — to walk into the U.S. Capitol and see my name next to the words ‘West Virginia’ was simply an honor,” Goodwin said. “It was not without its own challenges, of course — not the least of which was being appointed to a seat that was held for so long and with such distinction by Senator Byrd. [He was a man] who, by any objective measure, was a giant in American history.”

He said that his goal, during his time in office, was to honor Byrd’s legacy and follow his lead, in making any decision.

“All I wanted to do, and what I tried to do, was to emulate his work ethic and commitment to West Virginia, to the American people and, fittingly enough for tonight’s conversation, his commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law,” Goodwin said. “In Senator Byrd’s case, that was a commitment born out of a lifetime spent dedicated to learning and studying, and studying societies that had come before the United States and studying the political writers and thinkers and philosophers, that influenced out own founders.”

Goodwin noted that Byrd’s dedication to knowledge helped him to faithfully serve his constituents and the main purpose of the Constitution.

“That lifetime of study informed Senator Byrd’s approach to the debates of the day — public policy debates, Constitutional debates and conversations about what it means to be a citizen,” Goodwin said. “We hear a lot of these conversations today, debating what the Constitution is and what it means, and what it means to be a citizen. I think, too often, when we talk about it, we talk about one side of that coin, but not the critical side of it.

“Often, we will recognize the rights, freedoms, liberties and privileges that are enshrined in the Constitution and afforded to us. But what makes our country great and keeps our country great, and allows those freedoms and liberties to endure is the other side of the coin of being a citizen — not just the rights, but the obligations, the responsibilities and duties that we all share to one another, to our communities, to our state, to our country and to the Constitution itself,” Goodwin said. “Senator Byrd understood that understanding of citizenship to his core.”