Everett Dirksen, father of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

On this day forty-four years ago, a meeting held in the office of Senator Everett Dirksen (R-IL) modified the proposed 1964 Civil Rights Act so that it could be passed despite a Democrat-led filibuster.  Along with most other political leaders at the time, President Lyndon Johnson credited Dirksen for getting the bill passed:

"The Attorney General said that you were very helpful and did an excellent job... I'll see that you get proper attention and credit."

The 1964 Civil Rights Act was modeled after a draft bill devised by congressional Republicans months before the Democrats came up with their watered-down version.

Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country, showing office-holders, candidates and activists how they would benefit tremendously from appreciating our Party's heritage of civil rights achievement.  Back to Basics for the Republican Party is his acclaimed history of the GOP from the Republican point of view.  Each day, his Grand Old Partisan blog -- http://grandoldpartisan.typepad.com -- celebrates 154 years of Republican heroes and heroics.  See www.republicanbasics.com for more information.