Title Mansfield and Dirksen : bipartisan giants of the senate / Marc C. Johnson

Published Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2023] ©2023

Click on the following:
ProQuest Ebook Central

Copies

Description 1 online resource (297 pages) Summary The U.S. Senate is so sharply polarized along partisan and ideological lines today that it's easy to believe it was always this way. But in the turbulent 1960s, even as battles over civil rights and the war in Vietnam dominated American politics, bipartisanship often prevailed. One key reason: two remarkable leaders who remain giants of the Senate--Republican leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois and Democratic leader Mike Mansfield of Montana, the longest-serving majority leader in Senate history, so revered for his integrity, fairness, and modesty that the late Washington Post reporter David Broder called him "the greatest American I ever met." The political and personal relationship of these party leaders, extraordinary by today's standards, is the lens through which Marc C. Johnson examines the Senate in that tumultuous time. Working together, with the Democrat often ceding public leadership to his Republican counterpart, Mansfield and Dirksen passed landmark civil rights and voting rights legislation, created Medicare, and helped bring about a foundational nuclear arms limitation treaty. The two leaders could not have been more different in personality and style: Mansfield, a laconic, soft-spoken, almost shy college history professor, and Dirksen, an aspiring actor known for his flamboyance and sense of humor, dubbed the "Wizard of Ooze" by reporters. Drawing on extensive Senate archives, Johnson explores the congressional careers of these iconic leaders, their intimate relationships with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and their own close professional friendship based on respect, candor, and mutual affection. A study of politics but also an analysis of different approaches to leadership, this is a portrait of a U.S. Senate that no longer exists--one in which two leaders, while exercising partisan political responsibilities, could still come together to pass groundbreaking legislation--and a reminder of what is possible Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Online resource; title from PDF title page (ProQuest Ebook Central platform, viewed July 17, 2023) Subject Mansfield, Mike, 1903-2001. Dirksen, Everett McKinley. SUBJECT Dirksen, Everett McKinley fast Mansfield, Mike, 1903-2001 fast Subject United States. Congress. Senate -- Majority leaders -- History -- 20th century United States. Congress. Senate -- Minority leaders -- History -- 20th century SUBJECT United States. Congress. Senate fast Subject Legislators -- Montana -- History -- 20th century Legislators -- Illinois -- History -- 20th century Civil rights -- United States -- History -- 20th century Suffrage -- United States -- History -- 20th century Environmental policy -- United States -- History -- 20th century Civil rights Environmental policy Legislators Suffrage Illinois Montana United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book LC no. 2022061350 ISBN 0806193425 9780806193427

  Permalink