Difference between revisions of "Everett Dirksen"
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{{Image Thumbnail left|File:Dirksen.jpg|280px|Senator Everett Dirksen (left) with President Lyndon Johnson, 1966}} | {{Image Thumbnail left|File:Dirksen.jpg|280px|Senator Everett Dirksen (left) with President Lyndon Johnson, 1966}} | ||
| − | Though Dirksen died only shortly after the [[Stonewall Riots]], he had already spoken out against [[homosexuality]]. In 1952, he said that if the Republican Party did well in the elections, the "lavender lads" (homosexual men) would be fired from the [[State Department]]. That same year, he defended [[movement conservative]] and fellow [[Senator]] [[Robert Taft]] at the [[Republican National Convention]] and criticized [[Rockefeller Republican]] [[Thomas Dewey]] for his embarrassing loss to [[President]] [[Harry S. Truman]] only four years earlier.<ref>https://youtu.be/SrR-34t7P0U</ref> | + | Though Dirksen died only shortly after the [[Stonewall Riots]], he had already spoken out against [[homosexuality]]. In 1952, he said that if the Republican Party did well in the elections, the "lavender lads" (homosexual men) would be fired from the [[State Department]]. That same year, he defended [[movement conservative]] and fellow [[Senator]] [[Robert Taft]] at the [[Republican National Convention]] and criticized [[Rockefeller Republican]] [[Thomas Dewey]] for his embarrassing loss to [[President]] [[Harry S. Truman]] only four years earlier.<ref>https://youtu.be/SrR-34t7P0U</ref> |
| + | |||
| + | Along with 21 other mostly conservative Republicans, Dirksen voted against the [[D.C.]] [[establishment]]'s censure of Sen. [[Joseph McCarthy]].<ref>https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/1954McCarthyCensure.pdf</ref> | ||
Dirksen helped write and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. | Dirksen helped write and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. | ||
Revision as of 20:26, May 15, 2021
| Everett Dirksen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former Senate Minority Leader From: January 3, 1959 – September 7, 1969 | |||
| Predecessor | William F. Knowland | ||
| Successor | Hugh Scott | ||
| Former U.S. Senator from Illinois From: January 3, 1951 – September 7, 1969 | |||
| Predecessor | Scott W. Lucas | ||
| Successor | Ralph Tyler Smith | ||
| Former U.S. Representative from Illinois's 16th Congressional District From: March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1949 | |||
| Predecessor | William E. Hull | ||
| Successor | Leo E. Allen | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Louella Carver | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Service/branch | United States Army | ||
| Service Years | 1918 – 1919 | ||
| Rank | Second Lieutenant | ||
| Battles/wars | World War I | ||
Everett McKinley Dirksen (1896–1969) was the leading conservative in the Senate after the untimely death of Senator Robert Taft in 1953. From Illinois, Dirksen first won his Senate seat in a huge upset by defeating the Senate Majority Leader, a Democrat. Dirksen won by campaigning against communist infiltration of the Democrat party and FDR and Truman administrations.
Dirksen was famous for his oratorical skills, tremendous wit, and likable, down-to-earth appearance. He was also a very shrewd politician who in just his second term was voted by a wide margin of 20–14 to become the Minority Leader in the Senate. Being so beloved by his colleagues that within three years of his untimely death from cancer, Democrats approved renaming a Senate building as the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Contents
Political career
 Senator Everett Dirksen (left) with President Lyndon Johnson, 1966
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Though Dirksen died only shortly after the Stonewall Riots, he had already spoken out against homosexuality. In 1952, he said that if the Republican Party did well in the elections, the "lavender lads" (homosexual men) would be fired from the State Department. That same year, he defended movement conservative and fellow Senator Robert Taft at the Republican National Convention and criticized Rockefeller Republican Thomas Dewey for his embarrassing loss to President Harry S. Truman only four years earlier.[1]
Along with 21 other mostly conservative Republicans, Dirksen voted against the D.C. establishment's censure of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.[2]
Dirksen helped write and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In 1966, Dirksen sponsored a constitutional amendment to allow prayer in public school. It attracted 49 votes, far short of the two-thirds (67 votes) needed for passage.
He and House Republican leader Charles Halleck conducted weekly press conferences, known as the "Ev and Charlie Show".
Political wit
The most famous quote attributed to Dirksen was his sarcastic account of uncontrolled government spending: "A million here, a million there, pretty soon, you're talking real money." It is uncertain whether Dirksen originated the quip; in recent years inflation has changed "million" to "billion".
Miscellaneous
Dirksen's speaking voice was so resonant that he recorded four albums. His "Gallant Men" won a Grammy Award and rose to #29 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
See also
- U.S. "Party-switch" myth
- Barry Goldwater
- Norris Cotton
- Bourke Hickenlooper
- Leslie Arends
- Charlotte T. Reid
- Charles A. Halleck
- Mike Mansfield
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Dirksen, Everett McKinley. The Education of a Senator. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998.
- Dirksen, Louella Carver, with Norma Lee Browning. The Honorable Mr. Marigold: My Life With Everett Dirksen. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1972.
Secondary sources
- Dietz, Terry; Republicans and Vietnam, 1961–1968 Greenwood: 1986.
- Hulsey, Byron C. Everett Dirksen and His Presidents: How a Senate Giant Shaped American Politics. (2000). Abstract
- MacNeil, Neil. Dirksen: Portrait of a Public Man. New York: World Publishing Company, 1970.
- Rodriguez; Daniel B. and Barry R. Weingast. "The Positive Political Theory of Legislative History: New Perspectives on the 1964 Civil Rights Act and Its Interpretation" University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Volume: 151. Issue: 4. 2003. pp 1417+.
- Schapsmeier Edward L., and Frederick H. Schapsmeier. Dirksen of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, 1985, the standard scholarly biography
References
- ↑ https://youtu.be/SrR-34t7P0U
- ↑ https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/1954McCarthyCensure.pdf
