Jamie L. Whitten
Encyclopedia
Jamie Lloyd Whitten was a United States Representative
from Mississippi
, who was of English
and Swedish descent. He is the second-longest serving U.S. Representative ever and the fourth longest serving U.S. member of Congress ever.
. He attended local public schools and the University of Mississippi
, and he briefly served as an educator before joining the bar
in 1932.
until newly elected Democrats
in the House Democratic Caucus removed him in favor of William Huston Natcher
after the 1992 election.
as a Democrat
to the United States House of Representatives
in a special election to represent the state's 2nd District, in the northern part of the state. The seat had come open as a result of incumbent Congressman Wall Doxey
's election to the United States Senate
. He was elected to a full term in 1942 and was reelected 25 more times. His district was renumbered as the 1st District after the 1970 Census.
Congressman
John Dingell
surpassed it. Whitten is also the 4th Longest serving Congressman (House and/or Senate) behind Carl T. Hayden
, Robert Byrd
and John Dingell.
Whitten was originally a very conservative segregationist, as were many of his colleagues from Mississippi and the rest of the South. He signed the Southern Manifesto
condemning the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education, which desegregated public schools. Along with virtually the entire Mississippi congressional delegation, he voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957
, 1960
, 1964
, 1965 and 1968
. Whitten later apologized for these votes, calling them a "mistake" caused by severe misjudgment. He voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1991
.
Later in his career he voted for many liberal issues and frequently clashed with the Reagan administration on policy matters. He voted against Reagan's economic plans, tax cuts, increased defense spending, balanced budget initiative, tort reform
, welfare reform, abortion restrictions, missile defense system, and the Persian Gulf War
. Although Whitten represented a district that grew increasingly suburban and Republican
from the 1970s onward, his opposition to Reagan's program did not affect him at the ballot box. Indeed, his seniority and popularity resulted in him facing only "sacrificial lamb
" opponents on the occasions he faced any opposition at all. Nonetheless, it was correctly taken for granted that he would be succeeded by a Republican when he retired (Republican Roger Wicker
became the successor).
Declining to run for reelection to a historic 28th term in 1994, Whitten retired from the House as America's longest serving Congressman (53 years and two months). He retired to his home in Oxford, Mississippi
and died there on September 9, 1995, aged 85, eight months after leaving office.
over the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
, two projects that Whitten had successfully fought to fund over his house tenure, overcoming strong opposition from Conservatives
to their construction using federal funds.
He was also noted as the author of That We May Live, written largely as a pro-development, pro-chemical pesticide answer to Rachel Carson
's Silent Spring
, the seminal 1962 book that helped to spur the modern environmental movement
.
In June 1995, Congress renamed the main headquarters building of the United States Department of Agriculture
in Washington, DC the Jamie L. Whitten Building in his honor.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, who was of English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
and Swedish descent. He is the second-longest serving U.S. Representative ever and the fourth longest serving U.S. member of Congress ever.
Early life
Jamie Whitten was born in Cascilla, MississippiCascilla, Mississippi
Cascilla is an unincorporated community located in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, United States. Cascilla is approximately southeast of Paynes, Mississippi and approximately south of Charleston, Mississippi on Cascilla Road....
. He attended local public schools and the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
, and he briefly served as an educator before joining the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
in 1932.
Committee assignments
Throughout most of his tenure in the House, Whitten served on the Appropriations Committee, ultimately serving as Chairman from the 1979 retirement of George H. MahonGeorge H. Mahon
George Herman Mahon was a Texas politician who served twenty-two consecutive terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from the Lubbock-based 19th congressional district....
until newly elected Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in the House Democratic Caucus removed him in favor of William Huston Natcher
William Huston Natcher
William Huston Natcher was a Democratic congressman, serving in the United States House of Representatives from 1953 to 1994.-Early life:...
after the 1992 election.
Elections
In 1941, Whitten was electedElection
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in a special election to represent the state's 2nd District, in the northern part of the state. The seat had come open as a result of incumbent Congressman Wall Doxey
Wall Doxey
Wall Doxey was an American politician from Mississippi. He served as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from 1929 to 1941; after the death of U.S. Senator Pat Harrison, Doxey won a special election to his seat, and served in the United States Senate from 1941 until 1943...
's election to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. He was elected to a full term in 1942 and was reelected 25 more times. His district was renumbered as the 1st District after the 1970 Census.
Tenure
His service from November 4, 1941 to January 3, 1995 set a record for length of service in the House, which remained unbroken until February 11, 2009, when MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
Congressman
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
John Dingell
John Dingell
John David Dingell, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1955 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
surpassed it. Whitten is also the 4th Longest serving Congressman (House and/or Senate) behind Carl T. Hayden
Carl T. Hayden
Carl Trumbull Hayden was an American politician and the first United States Senator to serve seven terms. Serving as Arizona's first Representative for eight terms before entering the Senate, Hayden held the record for longest-serving member of the United States Congress from 1958 until 2009...
, Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
and John Dingell.
Whitten was originally a very conservative segregationist, as were many of his colleagues from Mississippi and the rest of the South. He signed the Southern Manifesto
Southern Manifesto
The Southern Manifesto was a document written February–March 1956 by Adisen and Charles in the United States Congress opposed to racial integration in public places. The manifesto was signed by 101 politicians from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South...
condemning the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education, which desegregated public schools. Along with virtually the entire Mississippi congressional delegation, he voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957, , primarily a voting rights bill, was the first civil rights legislation enacted by Congress in the United States since Reconstruction following the American Civil War.Following the historic US Supreme Court ruling in Brown v...
, 1960
Civil Rights Act of 1960
The Civil Rights Act of 1960 was a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration rolls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote or to vote...
, 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
, 1965 and 1968
Civil Rights Act of 1968
On April 11, 1968 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 is commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, or as CRA '68, and was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964...
. Whitten later apologized for these votes, calling them a "mistake" caused by severe misjudgment. He voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1991
Civil Rights Act of 1991
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 is a United States statute that was passed in response to a series of United States Supreme Court decisions which limited the rights of employees who had sued their employers for discrimination...
.
Later in his career he voted for many liberal issues and frequently clashed with the Reagan administration on policy matters. He voted against Reagan's economic plans, tax cuts, increased defense spending, balanced budget initiative, tort reform
Tort reform
Tort reform refers to proposed changes in common law civil justice systems that would reduce tort litigation or damages. Tort actions are civil common law claims first created in the English commonwealth system as a non-legislative means for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to...
, welfare reform, abortion restrictions, missile defense system, and the Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. Although Whitten represented a district that grew increasingly suburban and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from the 1970s onward, his opposition to Reagan's program did not affect him at the ballot box. Indeed, his seniority and popularity resulted in him facing only "sacrificial lamb
Sacrificial lamb
A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed for the common good. The term is derived from the traditions of Abrahamic religion where a lamb is a highly valued possession, but is offered to God as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of Sin.-In politics:In politics, a...
" opponents on the occasions he faced any opposition at all. Nonetheless, it was correctly taken for granted that he would be succeeded by a Republican when he retired (Republican Roger Wicker
Roger Wicker
Roger Frederick Wicker is the junior U.S. Senator from Mississippi and a member of the Republican Party. In December 2007 he was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to fill the seat vacated by Trent Lott. He subsequently won the 2008 special election for the remainder of the term. Wicker served...
became the successor).
Declining to run for reelection to a historic 28th term in 1994, Whitten retired from the House as America's longest serving Congressman (53 years and two months). He retired to his home in Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....
and died there on September 9, 1995, aged 85, eight months after leaving office.
Jamie Whitten Historical Site
The Jamie Whitten Historical Site is located at the bridge of the Natchez Trace ParkwayNatchez Trace Parkway
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a National Park Service unit in the southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Old Natchez Trace and preserves sections of the original trail....
over the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway is a 234-mile man-made, artificial waterway that extends from the Tennessee River to the junction of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee River system near Demopolis, Alabama, United States. The Tenneessee-Tombigbee Waterway links commercial navigation from the nation’s...
, two projects that Whitten had successfully fought to fund over his house tenure, overcoming strong opposition from Conservatives
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
to their construction using federal funds.
He was also noted as the author of That We May Live, written largely as a pro-development, pro-chemical pesticide answer to Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement....
's Silent Spring
Silent Spring
Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin on 27 September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement....
, the seminal 1962 book that helped to spur the modern environmental movement
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
.
In June 1995, Congress renamed the main headquarters building of the United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
in Washington, DC the Jamie L. Whitten Building in his honor.