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

it was mike mansfield. >> host: everett dirksen? >> guest: indispensable player >> guest: indispensable player who knew when to oppose and join up in an unsung hero in the civil rights movement. >> senator john cooper of kentucky. >> role model, great conviction, very smart. >> ted kennedy. >> p. was one that many books have been written. you and i both knew that in many ways i think the most accomplished kennedy, he never got to be president, never was attorney general, but i think in almost every way the most accomplished, certainly the most accomplished senator and maybe the most accomplished we used to laugh about going to dinners and all you have to do is mention the name when i made my first speech on the senate floor about american history he came over unsolicited, took my bill and got 20 democratic cosponsors within a day. so she knew exactly how to make the senate work. >> it could have well been. during the presidential campaign this year, governor christie got a hold of senator rubio during a debate. in your book you say

and on the way down, he explained to her that everett dirksen was going to be right beside him when he signed the bill. she said, daddy, why would you want to have a republican there for this? he said it is important that the american people understand that this is done on a bipartisan basis and the american people will be much more likely to accept what we're doing if they think both sides are involved in it. that was the story lucy told me on lbj's 100th birthday down at the statuary hall. >> you've talked about your internships in the house and senate side. when did this whole interest in politics get started for you? >> probably high school. i ran for president of the student body in high school. if i had lost, maybe i would have done something else. >> i mean was there a mentor that -- were you following politics? >> i just got interested. my fifth grade picture, you know how you have little mugshots every year? in my fifth grade picture i have an "i like ike" pin on. i was in georgia at that point and there weren't many republicans. my dad had served in world war ii way down as a

he was told at that time, by people like everett dirksen, "barry, if you vote for this bill, it willthanks a lot. thank you. >> r. goodwin: if goldwater really wanted to antagonize all black americans, he picked a good way to do it. johnson saw it as a political opportunity, which indeed it was. >> also maybe scary, though. because he knew he was losing a large part of the democratic south, and that goldwater would appeal to the very base that would have been his base. so it was both a moment of opportunity and a moment of peril. >> man: "we represent the majority of the people in alabama who hate niggerism, catholicism, judaism, and all the isms of the whole world," so said robert creel of the alabama ku klux klan. he also said, "i like barry goldwater. he needs our help." >> the biggest adverse problem that lyndon johnson had was the racial issue, 'cause there was nothing like it. remember, he sent lady bird down on the lady bird special to go through the south in the hopes of salvaging some of the south. there was concern about her safety. there was a lot of abuse when she'd stop

united states senators have ever won a grammy award, the first, was united states senator everett mckinley dirksen from pekin illinois, for his album, gallant men. now, once again another senator from illinois became the second senator in history to win a grammy award. in the best spoken word category at wednesday's grammy awards ceremony, senator obama won his grammy for recording his autobiographical book, dreams from my father. i understand that senator hillary clinton won a grammy when she was a first lady, now where she is a distinguished senator from new york, but she won one for recording, "it takes a village". her husband of course former president bill clinton won a grammy as well for the reading of his autobiography, of my life. >> c-span: recently jimmy carter was nominated for grammy, one of the things that came to mind in washington is that except from 1969, they're all democrats. numb all democrats. numb not the republicans, the realm of reagan book, the age to view bush, all those never got a nominee. you see this as being conscious on the part of the grammy nominees? . . >> >> but