Editing Everett Dirksen (section)

==U.S. senator==
[[File:Mansfield Dirksen.gif|thumb|Senators [[Mike Mansfield]] (left) and Dirksen conversing in 1967.]]
[[File:President Nixon conversing with Senator Dirksen and Vice President Agnew on the occasion of a luncheon with Senate... - NARA - 194603.tiff|thumb|Dirksen with President [[Richard Nixon]] and Vice President [[Spiro Agnew]] on January 20, 1969.]]

Dirksen was a Republican Senator 1951–1969.<ref>Schapsmeier and  Schapsmeier. '' Dirksen of Illinois'' (1985).</ref>
===Elections===
[[1950 United States Senate election in Illinois|In 1950]], Dirksen unseated Senate Majority Leader [[Scott W. Lucas]]. In the campaign, the support of Wisconsin Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]] helped Dirksen gain a narrow victory.

[[1956 United States Senate election in Illinois|In 1956]], Dirksen was re-elected over Democrat Richard Stengel, 54.1% to 45.7%.

[[1962 United States Senate election in Illinois|In 1962]], Dirksen was re-elected to a third term over Democrat [[Sidney R. Yates]], 52.9% to 47.1%.

[[1968 United States Senate election in Illinois|In 1968]], Dirksen was re-elected to his fourth and final term over Democrat [[William G. Clark]], 53.0% to 46.6%.

===Tenure===
In 1952, Dirksen supported the presidential candidacy of fellow Senator [[Robert A. Taft]] of Ohio, the longtime leader of the Republican party's conservative wing. At the national party convention, Dirksen gave a speech attacking New York Governor [[Thomas E. Dewey]], a liberal Republican and the leading supporter of General [[Dwight Eisenhower]]. During his speech, Dirksen pointed at Dewey on the convention floor and shouted, "Don't take us down the path to defeat again", a reference to Dewey's presidential defeats in 1944 and 1948.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-republicans-1972 |title=The Republicans' 1972 |author=George Packer |date=January 30, 2012 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=March 26, 2016}}</ref> His speech was met by cheers from conservative delegates and loud boos from pro-Eisenhower delegates. After Eisenhower won the nomination, Dirksen  supported him.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-republicans-1972 |title=The Republicans' 1972 |author=George Packer |date=January 30, 2012 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=March 26, 2016}}</ref>

In 1959, he was elected [[United States Senate Minority Leader|Senate Minority Leader]], defeating [[John Sherman Cooper]], a more liberal senator from [[Kentucky]], 20–14. Dirksen successfully united the various factions of the Republican Party by granting younger Republicans more representation in the Senate leadership and better committee appointments. He held the position of Senate Minority Leader until his death.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Along with House Minority Leaders [[Charles Halleck]] and [[Gerald Ford]], Dirksen was the official voice of the Republican Party during most of the 1960s. He discussed politics on television news programs. On several occasions, political cartoonist [[Herblock]] depicted Dirksen and Halleck as vaudeville song-and-dance men, wearing identical elaborate costumes and performing an act called ''The Ev and Charlie Show''.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' once reported that Dirksen had changed his mind 62 times on foreign policy matters, 31 times on military affairs, and 70 times on agricultural policies.<ref name=TimeCover1962 />

===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.]]

===Civil rights legislation===
Dirksen voted in favor of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|Civil Rights Acts of 1957]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – August 7, 1957|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=103|issue=10|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=13900|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt10/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt10-9-1.pdf|access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – August 29, 1957|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=103|issue=12|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=16478|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt12-6-1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008164318/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt12/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1957-pt12-6-1.pdf |archive-date=October 8, 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1960|1960]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – April 8, 1960|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=106|issue=6|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|pages=7810–7811|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1960-pt6/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1960-pt6-8-1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131013534/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1960-pt6/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1960-pt6-8-1.pdf |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |url-status=live|access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|1964]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – June 19, 1964|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=110|issue=11|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=14511|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt11/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt11-3-2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131024033/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt11/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1964-pt11-3-2.pdf |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |url-status=live|access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> and [[Civil Rights Act of 1968|1968]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – March 11, 1968|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=114|issue=5|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=5992|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1968-pt5/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1968-pt5-4-2.pdf|access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> as well as the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – March 27, 1962|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=108|issue=4|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=5105|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1962-pt4/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1962-pt4-9-1.pdf|access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – May 26, 1965|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=111|issue=2|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=11752|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt9/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt9-2-2.pdf|access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – August 4, 1965|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=111|issue=14|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=19378|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1965-pt14-6-1.pdf|access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> and the [[Thurgood Marshall Supreme Court nomination|confirmation]] of [[Thurgood Marshall]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Senate – August 30, 1967|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=113|issue=18|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=24656|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt18/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt18-7-2.pdf|access-date=February 5, 2022}}</ref>

In 1964, amid a 54-day filibuster by Southern senators of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Dirksen, Republican [[Thomas Kuchel]] and Democrats [[Hubert Humphrey]] and [[Mike Mansfield]] introduced a compromise amendment. It weakened the House version on the government's power to regulate the conduct of private business, but it was not so weak it would cause the House to reconsider the legislation.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} The Department of Justice said the Mansfield-Dirksen Amendment would not prevent effective enforcement. However, Senator [[Richard Russell Jr.]] of Georgia refused to allow a vote on the amendment. Finally, Republican Senator [[Thruston Morton]] proposed an amendment that guaranteed jury trials in all criminal contempt cases except voting rights. It was approved on June 9, and Humphrey made a deal with three Republicans to substitute it for the Mansfield-Dirksen Amendment in exchange for their supporting [[cloture]] on the [[filibuster]]. Thus, after 57 days of filibuster, the substitute bill passed in the Senate, and the House–Senate conference committee agreed to adopt the Senate version of the bill.<ref>Library of Congress exhibition, The Civil Rights Act of 1964</ref>

At that cloture vote, Dirksen said: "[[Victor Hugo]] wrote in his diary substantially this sentiment: 'Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come.' The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing of government, in education, and in employment. It must not be stayed or denied."<ref name=dirksencenter>{{cite web|title=Everett McKinley Dirksen's Finest Hour: June 10, 1964|url=http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64_cloturespeech.htm|website=Dirksen Congressional Center|access-date=May 11, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024144501/http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64_cloturespeech.htm|archive-date=October 24, 2015}}</ref>

On March 22, 1966, Dirksen introduced a constitutional amendment to permit [[public school (government funded)|public school]] administrators providing for organized prayer by students; the introduction was in response to ''[[Engel v. Vitale]]'', which struck down the practice. Considered by opponents to violate the principle of [[separation of church and state]], the amendment was defeated in the Senate and gained only 49 affirmative votes, far short of the 67 votes a constitutional amendment needs for passage.

Dirksen was a firm opponent of the doctrine of [[one man, one vote]] on the grounds that large cities (such as Chicago in Dirksen's home state of Illinois) could render rural residents of a state powerless in their state governments without some form of [[concurrent majority]]. After the [[Warren Court]] imposed one-man-one-vote on all state legislative houses in the 1964 case ''[[Reynolds v. Sims]]'', he led an ultimately unsuccessful effort to convene an [[Article V convention]] for an amendment to the Constitution that would allow for legislative districts of unequal population.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_reynolds.html PBS article on ''Reynolds v. Sims'']</ref>

===Oratory===
The saying, "[[q:Everett Dirksen#Misattributed|A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money]]" has been attributed to Dirksen, but there is no direct record of Dirksen saying the remark.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040816153245/http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_emd_billionhere.htm "A Billion Here, A Billion There..."], The Dirksen Center. (archived from [http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_emd_billionhere.htm the original] on August 16, 2004)</ref> Dirksen is also quoted as having said, "The mind is no match with the heart in persuasion; constitutionality is no match with compassion."

[[File:everettdirksen1.jpg|thumb|250px|Statue of Senator Dirksen on the grounds of the [[Illinois State Capitol]] in [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]], Illinois. A duplicate is located in Mineral Springs Park in his hometown of [[Pekin, Illinois|Pekin]], Illinois.]]

Dirksen recorded four spoken-word albums. In 1967 a recording of his own poem "Gallant Men" reached No. 16 on the [[Billboard 200]] and won a [[Grammy Awards of 1968#Spoken|Grammy Award for Best Documentary Recording]] in 1968.  On January 7, 1967, Dirksen became the oldest person to reach the [[Hot 100]]'s top 40, at 71 years, 3 days old, when the single reached No. 33; two weeks later it reached No. 29.<ref>[[American Top 40]], November 18, 1972</ref> In [[RPM (magazine)|Canada]] the recording reached No. 76, February 4, 1967.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.10037.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - February 4, 1967}}</ref> The distinction passed from Dirksen to [[Moms Mabley]] with her recording of "[[Abraham, Martin and John]]" peaking at No. 35 on July 19, 1969, when she was 75 years 4 months old;<ref>[[American Top 40]], April 5, 1986, although host [[Casey Kasem]] thought instead that Moms Mabley was only 72 years (and 4 months) old</ref> then, more than 54 years after that, to [[Brenda Lee]] with her recording of "[[Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree]]" from 1958 topping the Hot 100 on 9 (and 16) December 2023 when she was 78 years 363 days old.

Recordings of Dirksen's speeches were edited into a mock interview included on the record ''[["Welcome to the LBJ Ranch!"]]'' Dirksen was pleased with his inclusion on the parody record and bought many copies to give out as Christmas gifts.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60928076/the-record/ |title=Sad Holiday for Bennetts |last=Freeman |first=Alex |date=January 5, 1966 |newspaper=The Record |location=Hackensack, New Jersey |page=51|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref>

Dirksen made television guest appearances on game and variety shows, such as ''[[What's My Line]]'', ''[[The Hollywood Palace]]'' and ''[[The Red Skelton Show]]''. Dirksen made a [[cameo appearance]] in the 1969 film ''[[The Monitors (film)|The Monitors]]'', a low-budget science-fiction movie in which invading extraterrestrials assert political dominion over the human race. He also appeared in several other movies.