As Republican Senate leader, Everett Dirksen 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.  Dirksen served in the Senate from 1951 to 1969, and was seen quite often on the evening television news shows.  His banter with newsmen Walter Cronkite and Roger Mudd, and his unmistakable “raspy” voice made him famous throughout the country and the world. 

This video was shot in Southern Illinois in 1967 or 1968 and features a young report (CP Harding) from WSIU Television (Southern Illinois University) asking Senator Dirksen just one question for a proposed children’s news program.  Toward the end of the interview, the reporter becomes concerned because he was getting a signal that they were almost out of film and Senator Dirksen just kept talking.

“The Difference between a Republican and a Democrat” (Time:  2:55)