DIRKSEN: Portrait of a Public Man

by Neil MacNeil ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1970

An informal biography by Time magazine's congressional correspondent, who found the Senator ideally responsive to interrogation. MacNeil, for his part, is quite infectiously enthusiastic about his subject. . . detached enough to be respectable and anecdotal enough to be enjoyable. He reminds us that as a member of the House in the '30's and '40's, Dirksen won universal respect; he explains what he calls Dirksen's ""antics"" as a Senator partly in terms of the corruptions of privileged power. There is a sustained record of Dirksen's swerves and switches (and his manner of shrugging them off) with respect to foreign policy, civil rights, etc. The framework of analysis never gets beyond half-admiring emphasis on ""flexibility,"" ""pragmatism,"" and yes, ""opportunism."" There are insights into battles among Republicans, however, as well as contrasts with LBJ's legislative style and efforts to explain the pattern of Dirksen's waxing and waning influence and power. Civic-minded readers will be disappointed to find that MacNeil alludes to Dirksen's slavish concern for business and big real estate interests as just another picturesque foible, and devotes less than a casual page to conflict-of-interest charges. It's an entertaining scrapbook, which does suggest that there was more to the man than one suspected, though MacNeil (author of Forge of Democracy, 1963) himself doesn't fully capture it.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION