• Born: Jan. 4, 1896, Pekin, Ill.
• Political party: Republican
• Education: University of Minnesota College of Law
• Representative from Illinois: 1933–49
• Senator from Illinois: 1951–69
• Senate minority leader: 1959–69
• Died: Sept. 7, 1969, Washington, D.C.
Called the “Wizard of Ooze,” Everett Dirksen used his deep baritone to great effect as Senate Republican minority leader. “He was a natural-born orator—eloquent, persuasive, and forceful,” said Senator Norris Cotton (Republican-New Hampshire), who cited Dirksen's careful use of words, enormous vocabulary, and seemingly endless supply of stories and anecdotes. More than just talk, Dirksen possessed skills at legislative maneuvering. He fostered mutual ties between Republicans and conservative Southern Democrats and maintained a close friendship with Democratic majority leader and later President Lyndon B. Johnson. Both sides bargained for his support, which gave Dirksen influence far beyond his minority party status. Dirksen made his influence most keenly felt in 1964, when Southerners filibustered to block Johnson's Civil Rights Bill Declaring the end of segregation ‘an idea whose time has come,” Dirksen dramatically chose to support cloture to cut off the filibuster. Enough Republicans joined Dirksen and the liberal Democrats to cut off debate and pass the bill. For such reasons, other senators called Minority Leader Dirksen “the most powerful member of the Senate.”
See also Civil rights; Cloture; Filibuster; Johnson, Lyndon B.; Leadership in Congress
Sources
- Burdett Loomis, “Everett M. Dirksen: The Consummate Minority Leader”, in First among Equals: Outstanding Senate Leaders of the Twentieth Century, edited by Richard A. Baker and Roger A. Davidson (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1991).
- Neil MacNeil, Portrait of a Public Man (New York: World, 1970)
