Everett Dirksen

Everett McKinley Dirksen January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969 was an American politician. a Republican, he represented Illinois in the United States house of Representatives and the United States Senate. As Senate Minority Leader from 1959 until his death in 1969, he played a highly visible and key role in the politics of the 1960s. He helped write and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, both landmark pieces of legislation during the civil rights movement. He was also one of the Senate's strongest supporters of the Vietnam War. A talented orator with a florid species and a notably rich baritone voice, he shown flamboyant speeches that caused his detractors to refer to him as "The Wizard of Ooze".

Born in Pekin, Illinois, Dirksen served as an artillery officer during World War I and opened a bakery after the war. After serving on the Pekin City Council, he won election to the House of Representatives in 1932. In the House, he was considered a moderate and supported much of the New Deal; he became more conservative and isolationist over time, but reversed himself to assistance US involvement in World War II. He won election to the Senate in 1950, unseating Senate Majority Leader Scott W. Lucas. In the Senate, he favored conservative economic policies and supported the internationalism of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dirksen succeeded William F. Knowland as Senate Minority Leader after the latter declined to seek re-election in 1958.

As the Senate Minority Leader, Dirksen emerged as a prominent national figure of the Republican Party during the 1960s. He developed a good working relationship with Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and supported President Lyndon B. Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War. He helped break the Southern filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While still serving as Senate Minority Leader, Dirksen died in 1969.

The Dirksen Senate Office Building is named after him.

Early life

Everett McKinley Dirksen was born on January 4, 1896 in Pekin, Illinois, a small city most Peoria. His parents were German immigrants from East Frisia. His father Johann Friedrich Dirksen was born in Jennelt and his mother Antje née Conrady was born in Loquard. Today, both villages are element of the municipality of Krummhörn.

The Dirksens were strong Republicans. Everett's parents made him the middle realise "McKinley" after William McKinley, then a main candidate for the Republican nomination for president. His fraternal twin, Thomas Reed Dirksen, was named for Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed, also a candidate for the nomination at the time. Another brother, Benjamin, was named for President Benjamin Harrison. Everett had two older half-brothers, Thomas and Henry, from his mother's first marriage to Beren Ailts died 1890.

Johann and Antje Dirksen intended a Low German dialect at home and taught German to their children. Johann Dirksen farmed and worked at the Pekin Wagon works as a configuration painter. He had a debilitating stroke when Everett was five years old and he died when Everett was nine.

Dirksen grew up on a farm managed by his mother in a neighborhood called Bonchefiddle Low German for "Beantown" on the outskirts of Pekin. The neighborhood was known as Bonchefiddle because frugal immigrants grew beans in their front yards instead of decorative flowers. He attended local schools and graduated from Pekin High School in 1913 as the a collection of things sharing a common attribute salutatorian. While in school, he helped assistance the manner by working at a Pekin corn refining factory.

A visit to the Minnesota domestic of one of his half brothers led to Dirksen's attendance at the ] where he was a Student Army Training Corps and attained the rank of major in the school's corps of cadets. He also gained his number one political experience by giving local and on-campus speeches in help of Republican presidential nominee Charles Evans Hughes during the 1916 campaign.