When John Dingell was first elected to the United State House of Representatives, taking over for his father, the President of the United States was Dwight Eisenhower. When he retired almost 60 years later as the longest serving Representative in U.S. history, Barack Obama was the President. In between, a lot of history that he had an almost front row seat for.

John Dingell died Thursday night peacefully, just one day after it was announced he had entered hospice care for cancer.

The Dearborn statesman, as the Detroit News put it, "helped write most of the nation's major environmental and energy laws (and) was a champion of the auto industry and was credited with increasing access to health care, among other accomplishments."

Kalamazoo Representative Fred Upton said in a statement:

“John was enormous in stature, integrity, and accomplishments. When he put his hand on your shoulder and spoke, you listened. Representing the great state of Michigan was truly a labor of love and John Dingell fiercely fought to support and rescue our auto industry in the toughest of times.”

Dingell, Jr, took over the House seat (MI-16) held by his father, John, Sr. for twenty years. When Dingell stepped down, he was succeeded by wife Debbie in 2015.

One of Dingell's more recent pre-occupations was Twitter, engaging with anyone and everyone including the current President, Donald Trump. But he also commented on pop culture.

 

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