My favorite memory of Senator Dirksen was during the 1968 presidential election of Nixon vs. Humphrey. The notoriously corrupt Cook County would wait until all the other Illinois counties released their voting results, then, miraculously, when Cook County released their figures - low and behold there were enough Democrat votes to swing the state to the Democrat.
Well, Sen. Dirksen somehow got all the other counties to refuse to release their figures until Cook County did first. Talk about squealing like a stuck pig - the Cook County Dems screamed bloody murder, but Dirksen held fast. Cook County finally released their numbers and then all the others did too. Nixon carried the state.