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'''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 [[communism]] and siding with Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]].
'''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 [[communism]] and siding with Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]].
[[Image:Dirksen.jpg|right|thumb|550px|Senator Everett Dirksen (Left) With President Lyndon Johnson, 1966]]
[[Image:Dirksen.jpg|right|thumb|550px|Senator Everett Dirksen (Left) With President Lyndon Johnson, 1966]]
Dirksen was famous for his oratorical skills, tremendous wit, and likable, down-to-earth appearance. He was the epitome of the 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. 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.
Dirksen was famous for his oratorical skills, tremendous wit, and likable, down-to-earth appearance. He was the epitome of the 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.
==Political career==
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 attacted 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".
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.
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==
*[[Charles A. Halleck]]
*[[Mike Mansfield]]
==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
===Primary sources===
===Primary sources===