For a decade, Robert Byrd enrolled in night law-school classes, first as a congressman, and then as a senator. Finally, in 1963, he received his law degree, cum laude, from American University. President Kennedy, his “old colleague,” was there to congratulate him, as AU’s commencement speaker. Watch the first 30 seconds — it’s a little joke, nothing big, but you can’t help but smile.

According to the Washington Post, Senator Byrd was the only member of Congress to put himself through law school while in office. R.I.P.