When Rep. John Dingell took over the Congressional seat held by his father, President Dwight Eisenhower was in his first term in office, “I Love Lucy” was still on television and President Obama hadn’t been born yet. On Monday, the Detroit Free Press reported that the nation’s longest-serving member of Congress was retiring at the end of this year at the completion of his 29th full term in power.

The length of his career is not something to be celebrated.