Rep. John Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who became the longest-serving member of Congress ever, died Thursday at 92, just a day after his wife, Rep. Debbie Dingell, announced that he had gone into hospice. Dingell took office in 1955, having been preceded by his father, and was succeeded by his wife.
Dingell championed national health care tirelessly, introducing a healthcare bill at the beginning of every Congress, so it was appropriate that he was sitting next to President Barack Obama as the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. He balanced—or sometimes didn’t quite balance—strength on the environment with support for the auto industry. But as he played a part in writing the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, he has to be counted a key environmentalist legislator in American history.
After his retirement from the House, Dingell became one of the best Twitter follows in American politics, a constant source of wit and keen commentary.