Everett Dirksen

Everett McKinley Dirksen (1896–1969) was a Republican United States Congressman and Senator from Illinois. As Republican Senate leader 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. He was one of the Senate's strongest supporters of the Vietnam War.

Everett Dirksen in The Man With the Iron Heart
Everett Dirksen was a critic of the Truman Administration's policy in post-war Germany. On July 4, 1947, Dirksen announced to a crowd of protesters in Washington, DC that just a short time before, Indianapolis City Councilman Gus van Slyke has been assassinated while giving a speech. Dirksen then quickly whipped his audienced into a frenzy, blaming the assassination indirectly on the Administration. He then led the crowd in singing "The Star-Spangled Banner".