Dirksen, an old-school Republican, was born on this date 113 years ago. He served for 18 years in the U.S. Senate, the last 10 as minority leader. As a young man, he served in the Army during World War I.I remember Dirksen's gravelly voice, his rumpled appearance and his oratorical gifts that led to the nickname "The Wizard of Ooze."
He was reliably conservative on economic issues; even the most casual student of American history must be familiar with the statement he made concerning government spending — "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money."
Makes me wonder what he would have thought of a Republican president presiding over the greatest expansion of federal spending in history (it's certainly been a "through the looking-glass" kind of eight years). Perhaps he would have revised his statement to "a trillion here, a trillion there ..."
It's been nearly 40 years since Dirksen died. He succumbed to cancer in September 1969.
No comments:
Post a Comment