We need politicians like this man again!

We need politicians like this man again!

Well,I along as with millions of Americans have been watching the debacle that is happening in Washington.The petty bickering between the politico's
along party lines,had me thinking, about past issues that had polarized the nation and our elected officials.

The year was 1964 and the debate was raging on the hill almost as bad, if not worse, as today as health care.

This one man changed it all

June 10, 1964, was a dramatic day in the United States Senate. For the first time in its history, cloture was invoked on a civil rights bill, ending a record-breaking filibuster that had consumed fifty-seven working days. The hero of the hour was minority leader Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen (R-Ill.).

Yes, he was a Republican from Illinois.

Sen.Everett Dirksen the forgotten Civil Rights Champion.

Dirksen, who had little support among Chicago’s black voters and who had been picketed at his home by rights activists, took pains to point out that he was “no Johnny-come lately” to civil rights legislation. During his sixteen years in the House of Representatives, he had voted for anti-poll-tax and anti-lynching measures.

I won't continue to quote what you yourself can read in the article by just clicking the link.

Just a little about the man.

Everett McKinley Dirksen (January 4, 1896—September 7, 1969) was an American politician of the Republican Party. He represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives (1933-49) and U.S. Senate (1951-69). As Senate Minority Leader for over a decade, he played a highly visible and key role in the politics of the 1960s, including helping to write and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Open Housing Act of 1968, both landmarks of civil rights legislation.

I won't say he was perfect.But he was able to many times go beyond petty politics and do what was best for the country.

We need more American politicians like him,more now than ever.

I will leave you with this gem from him.

It is not about what he is saying,but just to show you just what a character he was.



Oh, did you know a young girl from the Chicago suburbs tirelessly campaigned for him?Her name was Hillary Rodham(Clinton).