- U.S. Senator from Indiana 1963-1981.

- voted for Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 (supporting Pres. Johnson), but turned against the war after a January 1968 visit to Vietnam when he decided the U.S. should never have gotten involved. (from 2009 Politico.com interview).

- principal architect of the 26th amendment (1971) which lowered the voting age to 18--widely seen as benefiting Democrats by increasing the youth vote.

- also principal architect of the 25th amendment in 1967 (clarifying presidential succession). He is the only lawmaker since the Founding Fathers to sponsor 2 constitutional amendments.

- supported "power to the people" causes like Title IX (equal opportunities for women in education), the Equal Rights Amendment, and elimination of the Electoral College.

- Only person on First List whose first name is a tree.

- ran for president in 1976, withdrawing after a few primaries.

- would have run for president in 1972 (at perhaps the height of his national prominence), but first wife, Marvella, had just been diagnosed with cancer. Marvella, who died in 1979, was his inspiration to fight for Title IX because she was rejected from the University of Virginia in 1951 simply because she was female.

- father of Evan Bayh, who became Governor of Indiana (1989-97) and also Senator (1999-2011).

- defeated in senate re-election by future Vice President Dan Quayle in 1980, and returned to a law practice. He continued working on a National Popular Vote for president.

- received Gerald Ford award by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Assoc.) in 2006 for his work on Title IX back in 1972. This story is utterly bizarre. The NCAA opposed Title IX originally. The award was shared with John Wooden, so the co-winners were Birch and Wooden--a twosome and also a tree-some. The NCAA also didn't notice that that Bayh (on Nixon's Enemies List) was getting an award named after Nixon's personally-chosen successor.