Jimmy Quillen
1087061
202458109
2008-04-01T02:59:08Z
Moodyfloydwhofan
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{{Infobox_Congressman
|name = Jimmy Quillen
|image name = JimmyQuillen.jpg
|birth_date = {{birth date|1916|01|11}}
|birth_place = [[Scott County, Virginia]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|2003|11|2|1916|01|11}}
|death_place = [[Kingsport, Tennessee]]
|state = [[Tennessee]]
|district = [[Tennessee's 1st congressional district|1st]]
|term_start = [[January 3]], [[1963]]
|term_end=[[January 3]], [[1997]]
|preceded = [[Louise Goff Reece]]
|succeeded = [[William L. Jenkins]]
|party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|religion =
|spouse =
}}
'''James Henry Quillen''', usually known as '''Jimmy Quillen''' ([[January 11]], [[1916]]–[[November 2]], [[2003]]) was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[Tennessee]] from [[1963]] to [[1997]]. Selective Service System and U.S. Navy official records both cite Quillen's date of birth as January 11, 1915.
== Early life ==
Quillen was born in [[Scott County, Virginia]], near the Tennessee line. He graduated from Dobyns-Bennett [[High School]] in [[Kingsport, Tennessee]] in [[1934]]. He worked as a copy boy and advertising salesman for a newspaper in Kingsport.
In [[1936]], Quillen invested his personal savings to become a [[publisher]] of a weekly Johnson City [[newspaper]] and resided at the Montrose Court Apartments in [[Johnson City, Tennessee]] during this period of his life.
==Draft exemption and military service==
Prior to the U.S. entry into World War II, Quillen received a two-year [[Selective Service System|Selective Service System Class 3-A draft deferment]] beginning in 1940. Quillen later served in the [[United States Navy]] as a public information officer from [[1942|late 1942]] to [[1946]], first receiving his overseas orders in [[1944]]. Quillen was assigned aboard the [[USS Antietam (CV-36)|Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CV-36)]] in late 1944 and the National Archives lists LT (j.g.) J.H. Quillen's service number as #235897 within the USS Antietam's roster of officers for July 1, 1945. The USS Antietam entered the pacific theater of operations too late in the war to participate in any combat actions, as the carrier steamed into Hawaii from the [[Panama Canal]] as the first [[atomic bomb]] was dropped by the United States on [[Japan]].
== Entry into state and party politics ==
Eventually becoming a [[Kingsport]] and [[Johnson City]] based real estate development and insurance company owner (starting Kingsport Development Company, Inc.), and [[bank]] executive following [[World War II]], Quillen also was elected to the [[Tennessee House of Representatives]] in [[1954]] as a Republican, serving four terms in that body. He was a delegate to the [[Republican National Convention]] in [[1956]], [[1964]], and [[1968]]. In [[1972]] a public interest task force led by [[Ralph Nader]] pointed a very public finger at Quillen, accusing the congressman of using his congressional office to "...promote his business interests, specifically insurance sales through Kingsport Development Co., Inc."{{Fact|date=August 2007}}
== Elected into the U.S. Congress ==
In [[1961]], [[B. Carroll Reece]], who had represented [[Tennessee's 1st congressional district]] for all but six of the last 40 years, died in office. His wife, Louise, took over as a caretaker until the next election. Quillen decided not to run for a fifth term in the state house in [[1962]], instead seeking the Republican nomination for the 1st District, which was based in the [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee|Tri-Cities]] region (of which Kingsport is one of the nuclei). This area of the state, like most of [[East Tennessee]], has been heavily Republican since shortly before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] — in fact, Republicans (and their antecedents) had held the seat for all but four years since 1859. Under the circumstances, Quillen's election in the fall was a foregone conclusion. He was reelected 16 more times without anything resembling serious opposition. He faced no major-party opposition in [[1966]] and [[1980]], and was unopposed in [[1984]] and [[1990]]. He eventually became de facto leader of the Republican Party in East Tennessee and thus a power broker in Tennessee Republican politics.
Quillen's popularity was not due only to his district's heavy Republican tilt, but because of his reputation for strong constituent service. However, in his 34 years in Congress, Quillen sponsored only three pieces of original federal legislation (including [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] "notch babies" benefit adjustment and an anti-[[flag desecration]] amendment to the Constitution).
== Controversies ==
While serving as [[governor of Tennessee]], fellow Republican [[Winfield Dunn]] incurred Quillen's wrath by opposing the establishment of a [[medical school]] at [[East Tennessee State University]]. Dunn claimed that Tennessee lacked the resources to adequately staff and fund two first-rate medical schools and that more resources should instead be devoted to the existing medical school in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], which was approximately 500 miles from Quillen's district.
One reason for Quillen's wrath may have been that Dunn was from Memphis himself, and perhaps Quillen felt that Dunn was showing too much favoritism to his hometown. There has been considerable acrimony between East Tennessee and the state's other grand divisions dating back to settlement times. Whatever the case, Quillen never forgave Dunn, and it came back to haunt Dunn when he ran for governor again in [[1986]]. Quillen made it known in East Tennessee Republican circles that Dunn was ''not'' to be supported. Dunn managed to overcome Quillen's opposition and won the nomination. However, without significant support in East Tennessee, Dunn stood almost no chance against the popular [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[Tennessee House of Representatives|State House]] [[Speaker (politics)|Speaker]], [[Ned McWherter]]. Only a large turnout in his former Memphis base kept the margin of defeat to under nine points.
The ETSU medical school was subsequently built anyway as the ETSU Quillen-Dishner College of Medicine, "before a homosexual sex scandal linked to one of the school's early benefactors and teachers removed Dishner's name from institutional signage" <ref>"Quillen more powerful at home than in D.C." Kingsport Times-News, Sunday, October 4 1992. 8A</ref>, and is now officially known as the [[East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine]].
Quillen's fellow Republicans passed him over in 1990 for consideration as ranking Republican on the [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]] in favor of [[Gerald Solomon]] of [[New York]], even though Quillen was the committee's most senior member. An unnamed fellow committee member was once quoted by the Kingsport Times-News (October 4, 1992) as saying, "Jimmy's one helluva nice guy, ... but let's face it. He couldn't organize a one-car funeral." He thus lost a chance to become the committee's chairman when the Republicans gained control of Congress after the [[1994]] elections.
Another important fact buttressing Quillen's re-election campaign finance efforts, according to Vin Weber of the Brookings Institution, was the Northeast Tennessee congressman's "...tremendous success...in shaking down the business community for [campaign] contributions."<ref>[http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20061031.pdf "Will The November Elections Help Mend The Broken Branch?" The Brookings Institution. October 31, 2006. p. 29]</ref>
Quillen amassed a large campaign treasury due to having received many large individual and [[Political action committee|PAC]] contributions, including those well financed PACs representing the beer, wine, and spirits beverage industries, but never really needed to use it given the heavy Republican tilt of his district. Many political observers expected Quillen to retire before a change in federal election campaign finance laws made it illegal to convert the balance of campaign treasury funds to personal use by merely declaring them as income and paying the [[income tax|federal income tax]] then due; he did not do so and continued to seek re-election past the deadline.
== Retirement ==
Quillen did decide to retire prior to the [[1996]] election and was succeeded by Circuit Court Judge [[William L. Jenkins]], a fellow Republican. He holds the record for the longest unbroken tenure in the U.S. House in Tennessee history. Only Reece had been elected to more terms in the House (18 to Quillen's 17), and only [[Kenneth McKellar]] had served in both chambers longer. Quillen died on [[November 2]], [[2003]] and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kingsport. His funeral was one of the largest in the state's history, attended by dignitaries from both parties across the state.
Quillen's estate was valued at approximately $17 million, with the majority going to schools in his district. [[King College]], [[Milligan College]], [[Carson-Newman College]], and [[Tusculum College]] each received $250,000 for scholarships. [[East Tennessee State University]] received an estimated $14.6 million for two scholarship endowments, including one for students of [[East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine|James H. Quillen College of Medicine]].<ref>[http://johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=TOPSTORIES&ID=30122 Johnson City Press: Quillen’s will earmarks $14.6 million to university]</ref>
==External links==
*[http://www.etsu.edu/cass/Archives/quilloff.asp ETSU Archives of Appalachia – James H. Quillen Congressional Office and Gallery]
*[http://www.ontheissues.org/House/James_Quillen_Government_Reform.htm On The Issues — James Quillen on Government Reform]
*[http://www.johnsonsdepot.com/photos7.htm Quillen College of Medicine Developmental Photos]
==References==
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state=Tennessee|district=1|
before=[[Louise Goff Reece]]|
years=1963–1997|
after=[[William L. Jenkins]]
}}
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[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee]]
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]