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Everett Dirksen Quotes

Everett McKinley Dirksen was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As Senate Minority Leader from 1959 to 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 style and a notably rich baritone voice, his flamboyant speeches 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 support 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. Wikipedia  

✵ 4. January 1896 – 7. September 1969
Everett Dirksen photo
Everett Dirksen: 5 quotes0 likes

Famous Everett Dirksen Quotes

“When I face an issue of great import that cleaves both constituents and colleagues, I always take the same approach. I engage in deep deliberation and quiet contemplation. I wait to the last available minute and then I always vote with the losers. Because, my friend, the winners never remember and the losers never forget.”

Everett Dirksen

As quoted in Business Wit & Wisdom (2005) by Richard S. Zera, p. 164

“I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.”

Everett Dirksen

As quoted in Caught Between the Dog and the Fireplug, or, How to Survive Public Service (2001) by Kenneth H. Ashworth, p. 11

“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money.”

Everett Dirksen

Although often quoted, it seems Dirksen never actually said this. The Dirksen Congressional Research Center made an extensive search https://web.archive.org/web/20140127115225/http://www.dirksencenter.org:80/print_emd_billionhere.htm when fully 25% of enquiries to them were about the quotation. They could find Dirksen did say &quot;a billion here, a billion there&quot;, and things close to that, but not the &quot;pretty soon you&#x27;re talking real money&quot; part. They had one gentleman report to them he had asked Dirksen about it on an airplane trip and received the reply: &quot;Oh, I never said that. A newspaper fella misquoted me once, and I thought it sounded so good that I never bothered to deny it.&quot; <br class="br">The Yale Book of Quotations cites a similar statement in The New York Times on Jan. 10, 1938: &quot;Well, now, about this new budget. It’s a billion here and a billion there, and by and by it begins to mount up into money.&quot; https://books.google.com/books?id=ck6bXqt5shkC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=%22fred%20r.%20shapiro%22%20yale%20book%20of%20quotations&amp;pg=PA206#v=onepage&amp;q=%22everett%20m.%20dirksen%22&amp;f=false <br class="br">Misattributed

“Stronger than all the armies is an idea that's time has come. … The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing in government, in education, and in employment. It will not be stayed or denied. It is here!”

Everett Dirksen

Paraphrasing Victor Hugo when speaking about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Civil_Rights_Filibuster_Ended.htm (10 June 1964) <br class="br">1960s

“We have been through this biennial convulsion four or five different times over the past 10 or 12 years, and now it appears that we are going through this quiet agony all over again.”

Everett Dirksen

Remarks in the Senate on a resolution to amend Senate Rule 22 (cloture), Congressional Record (January 11, 1967), vol. 113, p. 182
1960s

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