leader everett dirksen. richie: -- mr. ritchie: this building was named for everett dirksen, quite a popular figure at the time, a deep mellifluous voice, a great orator. he won a grammy award for a record he did that was just ,eading patriotic sheet music patriotic speeches with music playing in the background. it was quite popular at the time. senator dirksen: down through the years, there have been men -- brave, gallant men -- who have died that others might be free. mr. ritchie: he was known as the spirit of lose. he was the minority leader in the senate. a very small minority. usually 35 or 36 senators on his side of the aisle, which out of 100 is a very small minority, but his boat was critical back in the day when you needed two stop a filibuster. if the senate was going to stop a filibuster on civil rights, they needed everett dirksen. the civil rights act of 1964 -- once dirksen came on board, once he agreed to whatever the compromise was, enough votes would come on board for the majority to prevail

namesake, former republican leader everett dirksen. >> this building was named for senator dirksen would then the toublican leader from 1959 1969. who was a popular figure in the united states at the time. voice to tear with a deep , a terrific order in the old-school style. he won a grammy award for a record that he did just reading patriotic sheet music and patriotic speeches. it was quite popular at the time. theren through the years, gallant,men, brave, who have died so that others might be free. dirksen, as a popular person who also represented bipartisanship. he was a minority leader in the senate. operated with 35 or 36 senators, which out of 100 is a small minority. if the senate was going to stop a filibuster, they need dirksen support. any number of major occasions, the civil rights act of 1964, the nuclear test ban treaty, once dirksen agreed to whatever the compromise was, then enough votes would come on board to prevail. everett dorcas and, even though he was the minority leader was an extremely important leader at the time and it is fitting to name this building after him.

dirksen building. was named forng everett dirksen who had been that republican leader of 1959-1969. was quite a popular figure in the united states at the time. he was a terrific or greater. awardually one of grammy for reading patriotic speech music and speeches. >> there have been men, -- brave men.he was a popular person a great represented bipartisanship. he was that minority leader. 30-36y operated at senators on his side of the aisle. it's the senate was going to stop a filibuster, they needed dirksen's support. in 1964, rights act once dirksen came on board, and come up for the majority to prevail. even though he was only that minority leader, he was an extremely important later at this time. senator dirksen mike to say he was a man of principle and one of his greatest principles was to maintain flexibility at all times. he was a man who understood that you have to compromise in order to build consensus. has toted states compromise to pass any kind of legislation. bipartisanship is important. always majority leaders have to persuade the minority to come on board. there's alwa

brian: why everett dirksen? brian: he was from a different perspective. senatory in the 1960's.nd he died in 1969. he was probably the most effective minority leader we've ever had. this is the time of heavy party dominance in the senate. nevertheless, he managed to shape every bill that came through. most particularly the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965. he was entertaining and clownish. the voters loved him. the press loved him. but behind the clown was this very serious legislator. so like sumner, he just has endless layers that you can keep peeling off. brian: how long have you been the senate historian? betty: i came in june of 1998. i've been the senate historian since june 2015. brian: what is your day like? betty: they are very rarely the same. you don't really know what you're going to be working on. you are going into the office thinking, i am going to dig into this or that and then the phone rings and something happens. somebody said something. statement.s made a and then you immediately get pulled into other directio

leader everett dirksen. richie: -- mr. ritchie:

and on the way down he explained dirksen was going to be right beside him while he signed the bill. "daddy, why would you want to have a republican there for this?" he said, "it's important that people understand that this is done on a thertisan basis and american people will be much more likely to accept what we're doing if they think both sides it."nvolved in and that was the story lucy told me on l.b.j.'s 100th birthday down at statuary hall. host: you've talked about your on the house and senate side. when did this whole interest in politics start for you? senator mcconnell: probably high school. i ran for president of the student body in high school. if i had lost, maybe i would else.one something host: was it -- was there a followingwere you ?olitics in your family senator mcconnell: in my fifth grade picture, the little mug shots every year, i had an "i like ike" button on.? senator mcconnell: in my host: there weren't too many republicans -- you were in at that point? senator mcconnell: i was in georgia at that point. you were right, there weren't many republicans. in world

when i was an intern here, everett dirksen was the leader of the republican minority and a major player with l.b.j. in making the civil rights bill in 1964 and the voting rights bill of 1965 bipartisan. host: he also used television quite effectively during his time. senator mcconnell: he was not particularly photogenic but he was a great actor. he had a natural wit. he could have made his living being an actor in plays on broadway. so he was entertaining. he sort of kept the republicans alive after the kennedy assassination and the goldwater debacle we were down to a small number again, which has happened a couple of times in the last 100 years. and, of course, everyone remembers bob dole who became the leader when i got here and was our candidate for president. and when bob stepped down to run full-time for president in 1996 he was seceded by trent lott of mississippi. host: do you still stay in touch with your predecessors, talk to them? senator mcconnell: sure. i was talking to dole recently. i talked to lott frequently. and bill is back on this wall. he succeeded trent lott. he was

becky: it would probably be a time between charles sumner and everett dirksen. two people that the more i learn about them the more interesting they get. charles sumner just seems to be a bottomless pool of interesting facts and passions and contradictions. as i learn more about everett dirksen i'm finding things good and bad. they are both characters. trust sumner was in the senate in the mid-1850's and he stayed there until he died in 1874. there are parts of sumner's career that are very famous and very well-known. for anyone who just capital building they've heard about the meaning of charles sumner in the old chamber in 1856. that is often the only thing they know about him. much of his career came after that. most important part of his career was during the civil war and reconstruction. he was a dedicated and passionate proponent for civil rights laws. contradictory he was ornery was difficult. he was arrogant. many of his colleagues hated of the time. he left a lasting legacy that i think is quite profound. dirksen was from a different perspective. he was

wanted to get ho chi minh in a room and negotiate with them the same way he negotiated with everett dirksen and gerald ford. he was accustomed to that hands-on negotiation process. the will in america to stay the course continued to erode. there was an unshakable will coming from hanoi despite the bombings despite the loss of life. the americans never lost a battle. not in tet. never did american forces lose a battle in that war. there were setbacks and there were huge casualties. [applause] to those of you who served and died, people like jan scruggs that were served and were wounded. we ou an incredible amount of debt and as you visit thailand and laos and singapore of the places today there are many people who think that communism could've replaced the kind of democracy that flourishes there. i guess we will never know. alexander: your comment about the 1964. and the gulf of tonkin. august 4 of 64. when the two destroyers were presumably attacked. they said they were under attack. that happens to be the last day that i was there. i was commanding all the low and medium level reconnaissan

baker talks about recorded phone calls between president johnson and senate republican leader everett dirksens they negotiate the voting rightsnd bills and a two-part interview with robert carol on the fourth volume of his biography of former president johnson, the years of lyndon johnson, the passage of power. you can watch these at a time or search our entire video library at c-span.org. announcer: next, the british chancellor of the exchequer stands in for prime minister cameron at the house of commons. then, speeches from the libertarian presidential nominees. after that, another chance to betty koed. announcer: washington journalism live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up on memorial day, we will spend the program talking to viewers and members of congress about the legacy of the vietnam war, the experiences of those who served him what it was like coming home. during our program we will be joined by three nevada -- three of the current 10 members of congress who served during the vietnam war. with british prime minister david cameron in japan for the g-7 su

on the way, he explained everett dirksen would be right beside he signed the bill. she said, daddy, why would you have a republican there for this? you said, it's important the american people understand this is done on a bipartisan basis and the american people would be much more likely to accept what we are doing. and that is what lucy johnson on lbj's 100th birthday down in the senate hall. did this interest and politics get started for you? probably high: school. iran for the student body president in high school. if i have lost, maybe i would do something else. host: was there a mentor? sen. mcconnell: i just got interested. in fifth grade, my fifth grade picture -- host: there weren't too many republicans. you were in kentucky -- sen. mcconnell: i was in georgia at that point. and you're right, there were not that many republicans. my dad served in world war ii. vote ford to eisenhower. obviously, eisenhower did not carry any southern states. my dad was a great admirer of the commander. i began to identify with republicans a little bit. four years later, we we

and as i learn more about everett dirksen, i am finding similar things about him, good and bad.fascinating characters. brian: when was charles sumner in the senate? betty: he came in the 1850's and stayed until he diedn

the whole race of people and we hav had tx that and it took politicians like the republican everett dirkseny kennedy, the best and brightest minds that we had at the time to fix this racial quagmire in the country so he really had no but option but to to sit down and figure out ways to fix the racial unrest and that meant passing a antidiscrimination legislation that had been ignored for years. some of it was his passion and upbringing but also a big part of it was that he had to have all of his positions treated equitably. >> host: what was the final vote of the party breakdown? >> guest: yes, there were 20 who did not put lyndon johnsonn going to vote and so they just vanish and went away. but the important thing is to the final vote of some display they were a handful away from coding and so they got thurgood marshall onto the court in a very, very close battle. >> host: how did those 20 senators disappear? with a busy that they? >> guest: here's an example. lyndon johnson would make a phone call to the senate and say how are you doing, how is the wife? that's good to know. i understand

mistreating a whole race of people and we had to fix that and it took politicians like republican everest dirksenf illinois, lindh son johnson, bobby kennedy. it took the best and brightest minds that we had at the time to fix this racial quagmire in this country. so johnson really had no option but to get down and figure out ways to fix the racial unrest. and that meant passing he have anti-discrimination legislation. , pouring money into communities that had been massively ignored for years. and so, yes, some of it was his passion, his upbringing but also a big part of it was that, you know, he had sworn his oath of office to keep the country safe and to have all of its citizens treated equitiably. >> host: did any of those southern senators vote for thurgood partial and what was the final vote in the party breakdown? >> guest: yes. there were 20 who did not, who lyndon johnson forced or you know, haranged to not vote, so poof, they vanished, went away but the, the important thing is that the final vote, 69-11 which sounds wide but the southern democrats were only a handful of votes away from c