Who Was The Longest Serving Member of Congress?

Don Young, a House Republican from Alaska, is nearing 50 years in Congress.

Young, who has been in office since the Nixon Administration, is nearly 90 years of age.

Despite his ultra-impressive streak in Congress, Young is still well off of the record for longest-serving member of Congress (House or Senate).

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Seven men - John Dingell, Robert Byrd, Carl Hayden, Daniel Inouye, Jamie Whitten, Strom Thurmond and Carl Vinson - served in Congress for at least fifty years.

The record for longest ever tenure in Congress (interrupted or uninterrupted) is held by John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan who served in the House for 59 years and 21 days.

This streak was uninterrupted, as Dingell served from December 13th, 1955 until he retired on January 3rd, 2015.

This was a total streak of 21,571 days, narrowly topping the 20,995 day streak that Robert Byrd enjoyed.

In fact, the three members of Congress with the longest uninterrupted streaks were all Democratics.

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A few more points about John Dingell:

1. He served under 11 different Presidents.

2. His wife, Debbie Dingell, ran to succeed him and won in 2014.

3. Dingell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

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Debbie Dingell continues to serve as a member of the US House of Representatives.

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