Editing Everett Dirksen (section)

===Vietnam War===
As senator, Dirksen reversed his early isolationism to support the internationalism of Republican President Eisenhower and Democratic President [[John F. Kennedy]]. He was a leading "hawk" on the issue of the [[Vietnam War]], a position he held well before President Johnson decided to escalate the war.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Dirksen said in February 1964:
<blockquote>First I agree that obviously we cannot retreat from our position in Vietnam. I have been out there three times, once as something of an emissary for then President Eisenhower. I took a good look at it. It is a difficult situation, to say the least. But we are in to the tune of some $350 million. I think the last figure I have seen indicates that we have over 15,500 military out there, ostensibly as advisers and that sort of thing. We are not supposed to have combatant troops, even though we were not signatories to the treaty that was signed at Geneva when finally they got that whole business out of the fire. But we are going to have to muddle through for a while and see what we do. Even though it costs us $1.5 million a day.<ref name="Dietz1986">{{cite book |last=Dietz |first=Terry |title=Republicans and Vietnam, 1961–1968 |date=1986 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-24892-4}}</ref>{{rp|59}}
</blockquote>

As Johnson followed the recommendations and escalated the war, Dirksen gave him strong support in public and inside the Republican caucus. Some Republicans advised him that it would be to the party's advantage to oppose Johnson. Ford commented, "I strongly felt that although I agreed with the goals of the Johnson administration in Vietnam, I vigorously criticized their prosecution of the war. Now, Dirksen never took that same hard-line position that I took."<ref name="Dietz1986" />{{rp|149}}

[[File:everett dirksen painting.jpg|thumb|250px|Dirksen played a key role in passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.]]