Word: dirksen
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...succeeded superbly. They delight in his adventurous hairdo : "Whatever you want to say about him, he doesn't use that greasy kid stuff." And they point to a political trail that has more twists than that of a palsied sidewinder: the Chicago Sun-Times (whose political creature Dirksen is often, and inaccurately, accused of being) once reported that in his 16 years in the House of Representatives, Dirksen changed his mind 62 times on foreign policy matters, 31 times on military affairs, and 70 times on agricultural policies...
...most of all, outside the Senate itself, they tend to forget or ignore the fact that Dirksen has become the most effective G.O.P. floor leader in a line of succession that includes Oregon's Charles McNary, Maine's Wallace White, Nebraska's Kenneth Wherry, Ohio's Robert Taft and California's William Knowland...
...Outpouring. Testimonials to the quality of Dirksen's leadership come from both sides of the Senate aisle and from nearly all factions within both par ties. Just recently, Connecticut's middle-roading Republican Senator Prescott Bush, who voted against Dirksen for minority leader four years ago, stood up to speak to the Senate. Bush is retiring from the Senate after this year, and he wanted to pay tribute to Dirksen. "He is," said Bush, "one of the very few men in the Senate who actually make votes when they speak on an important issue...
When grave national issues are involved, Everett Dirksen is not a partisan." In a flood of oratory, Republican after Republican rose to toss bouquets toward Dirksen. Vermont's George Aiken praised his fairness and courage. California's Thomas Kuchel his unselfishness and erudition...
...then Democrats - and in an election year at that - followed with an outpouring that climaxed when Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, in terms of glowing rhetoric, managed to out-Dirksen Dirksen. If, said Mansfield, he were only possessed of Dirksen's "wit and wisdom," "humor and poetry," "scholarly erudition and home spun simplicity," then would he "unleash them in orchestrated expression of the great affection, respect, admiration and esteem in which I hold the distinguished minority leader. I would weave with words a magic spell over the Senate as he has done so many times. With words, I would lift...