Who was the longest-serving member of the US Congress?

John David Dingell, Jr. (born July 8, 1926) is an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from December 13, 1955, until January 3, 2015. He was a member of the Democratic Party and represented Michigan throughout his congressional tenure. Most recently, he served as the representative for Michigan's 12th congressional district.

He began his congressional career by succeeding his father, John Dingell, Sr. who had represented Michigan in the House of Representatives for 22 years in 1959. Having served for over 59 years, he has the longest Congressional tenure in U.S. history. Dingell was a long-time member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and chaired the committee over multiple Congresses.

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28 Comments

Marian Spitzig

TERM LIMITS!!!

Shirley Dutt

The job was never meant to be a permanent thing. TERM LIMITS!

Marian Spitzig

You people complaining about US questions, submit questions. Some weeks it seems like all we see are British history/literature/sports, etc.

Ruth

My math says 60 years. He sure made a career of it. I am all for term limits.

stlmark

Ruth , See my replies to Marian Spitzig & cochoinok.

stlmark

Shirley Dutt, See my replies to Marian Spitzig & cochoinok.

stlmark

cochoinok, Over all those years? The voters apparently liked him enough to keep him in office. People who advocate term limits sound like they can't trust voters to decide who should represent them.

stlmark

Marian Spitzig, We have term limits. They're called elections.

elizawheeler

I honestly thought it was Byrd.

Puppermom

All I could think of was Strom Thurman I picture him on an episode of “The Simpsons.” I think Mr. Burns made him a robot or reanimated him. Cheez! Cartoon knowledge!😂😂

Chris Lee

Brian Smith, there's this new-fangled thing called the interweb where you can actually look up all the burning questions you have. Prompted by your concern, I looked it up on a thing called a "search engine" and received an immediate answer!

Lynne Zeman

As of what date?. Fluidity.

cochoinok

Term limits. Interesting that he replaced his father for the same seat. Sounds like rigged to me.

blkstang

I am pondering how much personal wealth he accumulated during this time. So much for serving for the benefit of the citizens of your district and of America.