Everett Dirksen told his constituents in central Illinois about his plans for the trip in a newsletter dated February 21, 1945, the day he left Washington DC. After expressing his gratitude for their “generosity and kindness” which had made the trip possible, the congressman outlined his travel plans. He expected to reach Africa, India, China, the Middle East, Russia, France, and Spain—an uncommonly ambitious itinerary that eventually proved too daunting even for the indefatigable Dirksen.

“Perhaps you may wonder why the journey is being undertaken at this time,” Dirksen suggested.  He noted that from the standpoint of weather and the least loss of flying time, early Spring offered the best opportunity for travel to the Orient and the Middle East.  But the second and more compelling reason “is that one might achieve a maximum amount of good by going at a time when the social, economic and political forces that are operative throughout the world and with which we as a nation must surely deal in the near future are still so fluid and intense and there could be not [a] better time than now to observe what is taking place.”1

Dirksen elaborated, calling the journey an “inspection trip”:

I have wondered how I can in some measure express my appreciation for all this in terms that will redound to our good and to the welfare of our country.  In time of war, when young men give their all on distant battle fields, and when folks at home are called upon for every sacrifice, there would be no moral basis for a journey to distant lands unless it is closely related to one’s field of public service and serves a useful and necessary public service.  On this basis, I believe there is an especial justification for the proposed trip at this time.

For years, it has been my privilege to serve on the Appropriations Committee of the Congress.  That Committee has prepared and presented to Congress legislation providing for the spending of hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars.  Those appropriations—all of which are derived from you and the other people of this nation in the form of taxes or borrowed by pledging your credit—have been spent in all sections of the world.  We have appropriated billions for lend-lease aid to a score of nations.  We have appropriated hundreds of millions for relief and rehabilitation in liberated countries.  We have spent billions in building docks and camps, railroads and garrisons, warehouse and supply stations in every corner of the earth.  Oddly enough and insofar as I know, not a single member of the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives has ever journeyed to far distant lands to observe how and where your money is being spent and what is being accomplished.2

Dirksen revealed a political sensitivity when he promised that his recommendations “will be on a middle-of-the-road basis,” not “captious or carping.”  Nor would they be “partisan or political.”  His report, he said, “will have one and only one purpose and that is to suggest and recommend those things that will speed the day of victory, enhance the prestige and well-being of our own beloved country, and indicate what in my very humble judgment seems to be the the [sic] road upon which we shall find the grace and joy of a peace that will live.”3

Document Note:  Dirksen carefully recorded his travels in a log.  The two pages featured here provide an overview, listing each stop, his mode of transportation (ATC stands for Air Transport Command, his most frequent means of getting around), and the mileage.  [Source:  Everett M. Dirksen Papers, Notebooks, f. 66, 49]