Everett Dirksen

Illinois minority leader whose silver tongue delivered Republican votes for the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Overview

After six terms in the House, Dirksen served in the Senate from 1951 until his death in 1969 and as Republican leader from 1959. He forged the crucial cloture vote ending the 60-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, calling the issue an idea whose time has come, and worked with his friend Lyndon Johnson across party lines on voting rights and more. His television persona, and fondness for quotation from the poets, made him a household figure. The Dirksen Senate Office Building carries his name.