Longevity
Good thing for John Dingell that term limits never caught on. The Michigan Democrat today became the longest-serving member in the history of the House of Representatives. The 82-year-old, who was elected in 1955, begins his 19,420th day of service today, surpassing Mississippi’s Jamie Whitten, who served from 1941 to 1995.
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of his colleagues filed into the Capitol’s Statuary Hall to pay tribute to Dingell. Speaker Nancy Pelosi pointed out that he was a congressional page when FDR asked for a for a declaration of war in 1941. Other speakers noted that his first year of service coincided with the birth of McDonald’s and Disneyland, as well as Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat.
“Twenty-five percent of all the people who have occupied the Oval Office have had the honor of working with John Dingell,” noted President Clinton.
Clinton also remembered when he was taking heat for the assault weapons ban in the 1990s, Dingell took him duck hunting to bolster Clinton’s credentials among gun enthusiasts. They only saw one duck, Clinton said. “All I know is that three people shot at it and [Dingell] let me take credit.”
