Interview transcripts, 1940-1969
Think of this page as a table of contents to 57 interview transcripts featuring Everett Dirksen from 1940 through 1969, largely the period of his service in the U.S. Senate. We have reproduced all the interviews contained in his Remarks and Releases files housed at The Dirksen Congressional Center in Pekin, IL. Although Dirksen served in the House of Representatives from 1933 until 1949, only a single interview survives from that period.
These records do not include press conference transcripts. It is likely that Dirksen participated in many other interviews for which The Center lacks documentation. In 1964, for example, despite Dirksen’s prominence in such legislative battles as the civil rights bill, only a single interview transcript exists in The Center’s holdings.
Date | Program Title | Subject |
3.3.40 |
Government spending, unemployment, monetary policy |
|
June 1951 |
Senate office procedures, work load, District of Columbia home rule, cloture, future of Republican Party, the economy, foreign policy, minority rights |
|
9.11.51 |
Candidacies of Robert Taft and Dwight Eisenhower for president, Dirksen’s availability for place on the national ticket, the Republican program, the nature of "isolationism" and foreign policy, Universal Military training; campaign issues |
|
1.27.52 |
National budget, government spending, congressional oversight of spending |
|
3.2.52 |
Peace, internal security, preparedness, human freedom, economic freedom |
|
5.2.52 |
Impeachment of truman, truman’s seizure of steel mills, price and wage controls, Dirksen’s candidacy for president, Robert Taft, foreign aid |
|
5.8.52 |
Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee activities, 1952 convention, government spending |
|
6.21.53 |
Dirksen’s trip to the Pacific, Korea, the war in French Indochina, Formosa |
|
11.7.54 |
Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee’s performance, McCarthy issue and censure |
|
1.9.55 |
Eisenhower’s State of the Union message, Republican Party unity, foreign and domestic policies, McCarthy |
|
3.21.55 |
Republican political situation in 1956, Formosa, Illinois politics, McCarthy, Bricker Amendment |
|
1.20.57 |
Suez incident, relations with Great Britain, duties of Republican Party Whip, Rule 22, Republican Party fortunes, McClellan labor racketeering committee, Red China |
|
5.19.57 |
Federal budget battle, Republican Party unity, civil rights bill, foreign aid and foreign policy, Dirksen describes his brand of Republicanism, his possible candidacy in 1960 |
|
9.16.57 |
Unemployment, federal pay raises, Eisenhower’s program, aid to education, congressional junkets, Little Rock racial situation, Taft-Hartley Act |
|
2.2.58 |
U.S. space launch, space program and link to federal aid to education, the economy, presidential disability, Middle East, labor legislation, national defense, Dirksen’s political plans |
|
6.21.59 |
Republican Party’s future in 1960, campaign issues, inflation, Senate rejection of Lewis Strauss for Secretary of Commerce, summit meetings |
|
6.23.59 |
Lewis Strauss nomination, 1960 election prospects and issues, the economy, Berlin crisis, summit conferences, NATO, Eisenhower’s program |
|
7.26.59 | "Ruth Hagy's College News Conference" | Eisenhower's legislative program, 1960 election, Republican Party, Nixon's visit to Soviet Union, congressional influence in regulatory agencies, labor-management legislation, Eisenhower's veto of housing bill, civil rights bill |
1.17.60 |
Democratic and Republican responses to Eisenhower’s message |
|
1.18.60 |
NBC Program for Radio, "Senator Dirksen's Radio and TV Message" |
Third party possibility, method of selecting candidates, nature of politics and politicians, voting behavior, partonage, chaleenges of the next 50 years |
4.18.60 |
Disarmament, Cold War, space program, water resources |
|
6.19.60 |
Dirksen as a vice presidential candidate, Japanese treaty, possible Republican nominees, U-2 incident and the summit conference, campaign issues, pending legislation |
|
8.14.60 |
Minimum wage legislation, legislative accomplishments, pending matters, Eisenhower’s message to Congress, civil rights proposals, Forand bill, Nixon’s campaign, Dirksen’s relationship with Lyndon Johnson |
|
1.8.61 |
Rule 22, John Kennedy’s appointments, the question of a coalition between Republicans and southern Democrats, congressional action on Kennedy’s legislative program, leadership of Republicans |
|
1.13.61 |
Republican strategy, legislative agenda |
|
1.22.61 |
Legislative agenda, Republican-Democratic coalition, Republican strategy |
|
1.29.61 |
Relations with the Soviet Union, question of secrecy in the Kennedy administration, Republican leadership, evaluation of Nixon’s campaign, Republican congressional strategy, legislative agenda |
|
3.5.61 |
Why Dirksen left the House of Representatives, his oratorical style, biographical information, how he received his middle name, pre-congressional years, Dirksen’s flexibility, government’s role in society, Dirksen’s leadership methods, evaluation of Kennedy, Republican Party leadership |
|
9.24.61 |
Record of the 87th Congress |
|
10.15.61 |
The Kennedy administration record |
|
3.11.62 |
Republican Party, Soviet Union, politics, the Kennedy administration |
|
2.3.63 |
"Ev and Charlie Show," challenges to Halleck’s leadership, Cuba, aid to education, role of the opposition party, legislative priorities, government spending |
|
4.1.63 |
Political party cohesion and alignments, Republican Party fortunes in 1964, Kennedy’s quality of leadership |
|
5.5.63 |
Middle East |
|
9.29.63 |
Republican candidates and election chances in 1964, evaluation of Kennedy’s program, Republican-southern Democratic coalition; tax bill; unemployment, civil rights, other issues |
|
11.6.63 |
Tax bill, spending limitations, impact of tax legislation |
|
11.25.63 |
Impact of the Kennedy assassination on legislation, Lyndon Johnson as president |
|
2.2.64 |
1964 election, Bobby Baker cawse, Halleck as possible chairman of the Republican convention; Vietnam, civil rights bill |
|
1.24.65 |
Role of the Republican Party in Congress, federal aid to education, Republican Policy Coordinating Committee, chemical warfare, presidential disability, Vietnam, Republican Party unity, United Nations |
|
2.7.65 |
Dirksen’s eye problem, comparison of House and Senate careers, "consistency" on issues, marigolds, theatrical career, Dirksen’s style of leadership, hazards of public life, evaluations of the presidents he served with, what would Dirksen do differently if he had to do it again? |
|
9.19.65 |
Implication of India-Pakistan war, bipartisan foreign policy, Southeast Asia, possible campaign issues, Johnson’s domestic program, repeal of 14(b), reapportionment, Dirksen’s relationships with Democrats; Republican Party spokesmen, lessons of 1964 |
|
1.9.66 |
Dirksen on Johnson’s Vietnam policy, relations with European allies, domestic programs, federal budget, civil rights |
|
1.11.66 |
Vietnam war, role of Republican Party in the war issue |
|
1.17.66 |
U.S. News and World Reportinterview |
Republican Party prospects, Great Society programs, government intrusion, Vietnam, arms shortages, "guns and butter," 14(b) and reapportionment, pending issues |
7.3.66 |
Bombing in Vietnam, Douglas-Percy Senate race in Illinois, Dirksen Republicanism, reflection on career, reapportionment, 14(b), prayer in schools, Dirksen’s future goals, evaluation of Johnson |
|
8.7.66 |
Machinists’ strike, public prayer amendment, pending civil rights legislation, gun control bill, Great Society programs, Johnson’s conduct of the Vietnam war, Dirksen’s influence in the Johnson administration, election finances |
|
9.15.66 |
Why did the 1966 civil rights bill fail, demonstrations by blacks, political demise of Joe Martin |
|
10.9.66 |
Personal and political philosophy, reflections on career, views of current events and future, plans for future |
|
10.16.66 |
Personal and political philosophy, reflections on career, views of current events and future, plans for future |
|
1.15.67 |
Budget and taxes, national defense, Vietnam war, East-West trade bill, consular treaty, Rule 22, civil rights legislation, Bobby Baker investigation, Senate ethics |
|
8.6.67 |
Riots and urban problems, Vietnam, gun control bill, Democratic Party’s liabilities, issues, government spending |
|
1.22.68 |
ABC News with Howard K. Smith, "Everett Dirksen’s Washington" |
Dirksen in recording studio, tour of the Capitol, reflections of career, survey of Pekin, discussion with Ben and Tom Dirksen |
2.4.68 |
Vietnam, Pueblo capture, Republican candidates |
|
3.27.68 |
Congress’s role in relation to the White House, workload in Congress, pending issues, Vietnam |
|
8.4.68 |
Work of the Republican platform committee, Republican candidates, nomination of Abe Fortas |
|
6.15.69 |
Nixon’s Vietnam policy, ABM Safeguard Missile System, ethics in government, charges about Dirksen and his law firm, tax legislation, Senator Ted Kennedy’s criticism of Vietnam policy |