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'''Everett McKinley Dirksen''' (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was a leading [[conservative]] Republican and [[civil rights]] hero<ref>[https://npg.si.edu/blog/everett-dirksen-forgotten-civil-rights-champion Everett Dirksen: Forgotten Civil Rights Champion]. ''National Portrait Gallery''. Retrieved June 19, 2021.</ref> in the [[Senate]] from [[Illinois]] after the untimely death of Senator [[Robert Taft]] in 1953. He first won his Senate seat in a huge upset by defeating Democrat then-[[Senate Majority Leader]] Scott W. Lucas,<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=19459 IL US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1950]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved June 19, 2021.</ref> emerging victorious by campaigning against [[communist]] infiltration of the Democrat Party and FDR and Truman administrations,{{fact}} as well as through his criticism of the [[Marshall Plan]].<ref name=fascinatingpolitics>[https://fascinatingpolitics.com/2020/08/30/the-wizard-of-ooze-everett-dirksen-of-illinois/ The Wizard of Ooze: Everett Dirksen of Illinois]. ''Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History''. Retrieved June 15, 2021.</ref>

'''Everett McKinley Dirksen''' (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was a leading [[conservative]] Republican and [[civil rights]] hero<ref>[https://npg.si.edu/blog/everett-dirksen-forgotten-civil-rights-champion Everett Dirksen: Forgotten Civil Rights Champion]. ''National Portrait Gallery''. Retrieved June 19, 2021.</ref> in the [[Senate]] from [[Illinois]] after the untimely death of Senator [[Robert Taft]] in 1953. He first won his Senate seat in a huge upset by defeating Democrat then-[[Senate Majority Leader]] Scott W. Lucas,<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=19459 IL US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1950]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved June 19, 2021.</ref> emerging victorious by campaigning against [[communist]] infiltration of the Democrat Party and FDR and Truman administrations,{{fact}} as well as through his criticism of the [[Marshall Plan]].<ref name=fascinatingpolitics>[https://fascinatingpolitics.com/2020/08/30/the-wizard-of-ooze-everett-dirksen-of-illinois/ The Wizard of Ooze: Everett Dirksen of Illinois]. ''Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History''. Retrieved June 15, 2021.</ref>

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.{{fact}} 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.

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 over [[Kentucky]] [[Moderate Republican]] [[John Sherman Cooper]] to become the [[Minority Leader]] in the Senate.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=53648 Minority Leader Race - Jan 07, 1959]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved June 19, 2021.</ref> 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.

==Background==

==Background==