25 Facts About Jimmy Quillen

James Henry Quillen was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee from 1963 to 1997.

Jimmy Quillen represented the 1st congressional district, which covers the northeast corner of the state, including the Tri-Cities region.

Jimmy Quillen worked as a restaurant kitchen prep worker, a grocery store clerk, a copy boy, and later as a young adult, an advertising salesman for a Kingsport newspaper.

Jimmy Quillen sold The Kingsport Mirror during 1939 and moved to Johnson City, Tennessee to start up another weekly newspaper, The Johnson City Times.

Jimmy Quillen later served in the United States Navy as a public information officer from late 1942 to 1946.

Jimmy Quillen received his overseas orders in late 1944, with his assignment aboard the Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier USS Antietam.

Jimmy Quillen was later selected as a Tennessee delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1956,1964, and 1968.

Jimmy Quillen decided not to run for a fifth term in the state house in 1962, instead seeking the Republican nomination for the 1st District.

Jimmy Quillen won a five-way Republican primary with only 28 percent of the vote, and won the general election with 53.8 percent of the vote.

The 1962 and 1976 contests were the only times that Jimmy Quillen dropped below 64 percent of the vote and are the only times since 1898 that a Democrat has even managed 40 percent of the vote in this district.

Jimmy Quillen faced no major-party opposition in 1966 and 1980, and was completely unopposed in 1984 and 1990.

Jimmy Quillen eventually became de facto leader of the Republican Party in East Tennessee, and thus a statewide power broker within the tight circle of Tennessee Republican politics.

Jimmy Quillen's popularity was not due only to his district's heavy Republican tilt, but because he was widely perceived as providing strong constituent service.

However, during his 34 years in Congress, Jimmy Quillen managed to sponsor only three pieces of original federal legislation.

Jimmy Quillen amassed a large campaign treasury due to having received many large individual and PAC contributions, including those well financed PACs representing the beer, wine, and spirits beverage industries.

Jimmy Quillen first voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on February 10,1964, and again on July 2,1964 when the bill came back to the US House of Representatives for a final vote with an amendment attached to the original bill by the US Senate.

Jimmy Quillen frequently reported to Tennessee news media that he himself had introduced an amendment to the Teague-Cranston Act legislation which required that any university to be considered for acceptance into this pilot program must be on government property contiguous and adjacent to a VA hospital, as East Tennessee State University was adjacent to the Mountain Home VA Hospital.

Whatever the case, Jimmy Quillen never forgave Dunn, and it came back to haunt Dunn when he ran for governor again in 1986.

Jimmy Quillen made it known in East Tennessee Republican circles that Dunn was not to be supported.

Jimmy Quillen had himself avoided conscription into military service during the early 1940s, but later served in the US Navy from late 1942 to 1946.

Jimmy Quillen voted for approval of the 1994 modifications to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Jimmy Quillen did decide to retire prior to the 1996 election and was succeeded by circuit court judge Bill Jenkins, a fellow Republican.

Jimmy Quillen holds the record for the longest unbroken tenure of a Tennessean within the US House of Representatives.

Jimmy Quillen died on November 2,2003 and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Kingsport.

Jimmy Quillen's estate was valued at approximately $17 million, with the majority going to schools in his district.