Sen. Everett Dirksen (R-Ill.) became the oldest person to have a Billboard Top 40 hit with “Gallant Men” on Jan. 7, 1967. He was 71 years.
He would lose the title two years later to Moms Mabley who was 75 when her cover of “Abraham, Martin and John” hit 35 on July 19. 1969. Ironically, that was just one day after John’s brother drove a car off a bridge and let a woman drown.
Here is Dirkson’s hit song “Gallant Men”: