Jimmy Quillen
Encyclopedia
James Henry Quillen, usually known as Jimmy Quillen (January 11, 1916 – November 2, 2003) was a Republican
member of the United States House of Representatives
from Tennessee
from 1963 to 1997.
, son of John A. and Hannah Quillen, near the Tennessee line and was later a 1934 graduate of Dobyns-Bennett High School
in Kingsport, Tennessee
. 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.
During 1936, Quillen invested his own personal savings of $42 to become the publisher and owner of The Kingsport Mirror, a weekly newspaper
that he started in Kingsport, Tennessee
. Quillen sold The Kingsport Mirror during 1939 and moved to Johnson City, Tennessee
(where he resided at the Montrose Court Apartments) to start up another weekly newspaper, The Johnson City Times.
, Quillen received a two-year Selective Service System Class 3-A draft deferment
beginning in December, 1940 through late November, 1942.
Quillen later served in the United States Navy
as a public information officer from late 1942 to 1946. Quillen received his overseas orders in late 1944, with his assignment aboard the Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CV-36)
. 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
just as the first atomic bomb was dropped by the United States on Japan
.
The National Archives records list LT (j.g.) J.H. Quillen's service number within the USS Antietam's roster of officers for July 1, 1945 as #235897.
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, serving four terms as a Republican member within the Tennessee General Assembly.
Quillen was later slected as a Tennessee delegate to the Republican National Convention
in 1956, 1964, and 1968.
, 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 Party nomination for the Tennessee 1st U.S. House District in the Republican dominated region of northeast Tennessee.
Quillen was reelected 16 more times over opponents whom simply could not match the oft reported resources of the Quillen congressional campaign treasury. He faced no major-party opposition during either of the 1966 and 1980 primary elections, and was completely unopposed in both the 1984 and 1990 general elections. Quillen eventually became de facto
leader of the Republican Party within northeast Tennessee, and thus a statewide power broker within the tight circle of Tennessee Republican politics.
Quillen's popularity was not due only to his district's heavy Republican tilt, but also because of the public perception of effective constituent service and his amassing of a large campaign treasury over his years in public office. However, during his thirty four years serving as a legislator within the U.S. House of Representatices, Quillen managed to sponsor only three pieces of original federal legislation (including his legislation pertaining to the Social Security
"notch babies" benefit adjustment and an anti-flag desecration
amendment to the U.S. Constitution).
Rep. Quillen never held active chairmanship of any standing U.S. House committee.
of Social Security retirees born during the period of 1910 through 1916 received undue windfall of payments from the federal taxpayers through the Social Security Administration miscalculating Social Security benefits based upon the 1910-1916 cohort. Social Security retirees born immediately afterwards during the so-called "notch" period running approximately from 1917 to 1921 --- such as Quillen's wife Cecile --- perceived agency mistreatment and petitioned members of Congress for a similar upward and unwarranted windfall adjustments for payments to their own Social Security benefits.
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 federal income tax
then due; he did not do so and continued to seek re-election past the deadline.
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."
of California introduced a companion bill within the U.S. Senate. Known as the Teague-Cranston Act, the lfederal legislative proposal called for the creation of five new medical schools in five states to meet the needs of the medically underserved areas of the country.
Congressman 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
. However, the October 4, 1993 edition of the Kingsport Times-News released an investigative report entitled "Story of ETSU medical school's founding not always in agreement with facts" documented several facts pertaining to the Teague-Cranston Act that disputed Quillen's district claim of his amendment sponsorship :
The Teague-Cranston Act passed without a dissenting vote in October 1972, and was signed by U.S. President Richard Nixon
.
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
, 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 Democratic State House
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", and is now officially known as the East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine
.
pointed a very public finger at Rep. Quillen, accusing the congressman of using his elected office to "...promote his business interests, specifically insurance sales through Kingsport Development Co., Inc.", a Kingsport based real estate and insurance agency owned by Quillen.
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 later gained control of Congress after the 1994 elections.
as president of the United States.," and referring to the 1992 elections as "a national crisis". Quillen had himself avoided conscription into military service during the early 1940s.
and approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement
.
, a fellow Republican.
Quillen holds the record for the longest unbroken tenure of a Tennessean within the U.S. House of Representatives. 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.
After retiring, Quillen was inducted as an honorary member of the East Tennessee State University chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon
fraternity.
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 James H. Quillen College of Medicine
.
The East Tennessee State University Charles C. Sherrod Library also maintains the "Quillen Congressional Office and Gallery" on the fourth floor of the building, serving as a memorabilia shrine with an excat size replica of longtime U.S. Congressional Representative James H. Quillen's former Washington D.C. office within the U.S. House of Representatives The Quillen collection is open Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and by appointment.
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...
member of 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...
from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
from 1963 to 1997.
Early life
Quillen was born in Scott County, VirginiaScott County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,403 people, 9,795 households, and 7,023 families residing in the county. The population density was 44 people per square mile . There were 11,355 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
, son of John A. and Hannah Quillen, near the Tennessee line and was later a 1934 graduate of Dobyns-Bennett High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city located mainly in Sullivan County with some western portions in Hawkins County in the US state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County...
. 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.
During 1936, Quillen invested his own personal savings of $42 to become the publisher and owner of The Kingsport Mirror, a weekly newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
that he started in Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city located mainly in Sullivan County with some western portions in Hawkins County in the US state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County...
. Quillen sold The Kingsport Mirror during 1939 and moved to Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...
(where he resided at the Montrose Court Apartments) to start up another weekly newspaper, The Johnson City Times.
Draft exemption and military service
Prior to the U.S. entry into World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Quillen received a two-year Selective Service System Class 3-A draft deferment
Selective Service System
The Selective Service System is a means by which the United States government maintains information on those potentially subject to military conscription. Most male U.S. citizens and male immigrant non-citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are required by law to have registered within 30 days of...
beginning in December, 1940 through late November, 1942.
Quillen later served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as a public information officer from late 1942 to 1946. Quillen received his overseas orders in late 1944, with his assignment aboard the Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CV-36)
USS Antietam (CV-36)
USS Antietam was one of 24 s built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the second US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for the American Civil War Battle of Antietam . Antietam was commissioned in January 1945, too late to actively serve in World...
. The USS Antietam entered the Pacific theater of operations
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
too late in the war to participate in any combat actions, as the carrier steamed into Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
from the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
just as the first atomic bomb was dropped by the United States on Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The National Archives records list LT (j.g.) J.H. Quillen's service number within the USS Antietam's roster of officers for July 1, 1945 as #235897.
Entry into state and party politics
Eventually becoming a KingsportKingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city located mainly in Sullivan County with some western portions in Hawkins County in the US state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County...
and Johnson City
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...
based real estate development and insurance company owner (starting Kingsport Development Company, Inc.), and bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
executive following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Quillen also was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
in 1954, serving four terms as a Republican member within the Tennessee General Assembly.
Quillen was later slected as a Tennessee delegate to the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in 1956, 1964, and 1968.
Elected into the U.S. Congress
During 1961, B. Carroll ReeceB. Carroll Reece
Brazilla Carroll Reece was a U.S. Representative from Tennessee.-Early life and career:Reece was born on a farm near Butler, Tennessee, one of thirteen children of John Isaac and Sarah Maples Reece...
, who had represented Tennessee's 1st congressional district
Tennessee's 1st congressional district
The Tennessee 1st Congressional District is the congressional district of northeast Tennessee, including all of Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties and parts of Jefferson County and Sevier County...
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 Party nomination for the Tennessee 1st U.S. House District in the Republican dominated region of northeast Tennessee.
Quillen was reelected 16 more times over opponents whom simply could not match the oft reported resources of the Quillen congressional campaign treasury. He faced no major-party opposition during either of the 1966 and 1980 primary elections, and was completely unopposed in both the 1984 and 1990 general elections. Quillen eventually became de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
leader of the Republican Party within northeast Tennessee, and thus a statewide power broker within the tight circle of Tennessee Republican politics.
Quillen's popularity was not due only to his district's heavy Republican tilt, but also because of the public perception of effective constituent service and his amassing of a large campaign treasury over his years in public office. However, during his thirty four years serving as a legislator within the U.S. House of Representatices, Quillen managed to sponsor only three pieces of original federal legislation (including his legislation pertaining to the Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
"notch babies" benefit adjustment and an anti-flag desecration
Flag desecration
Flag desecration is a term applied to various acts that intentionally destroy, damage or mutilate a flag in public, most often a national flag. Often, such action is intended to make a political point against a country or its policies...
amendment to the U.S. Constitution).
Rep. Quillen never held active chairmanship of any standing U.S. House committee.
Social Security "Notch Babies"
First surfacing as a federal legislative issue after the U.S. Congress decided to automatically link Social Security benefit increases to the consumer price index beginning in 1972, a cohortCohort (statistics)
In statistics and demography, a cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular time together during a particular time span . Cohorts may be tracked over extended periods in a cohort study. The cohort can be modified by censoring, i.e...
of Social Security retirees born during the period of 1910 through 1916 received undue windfall of payments from the federal taxpayers through the Social Security Administration miscalculating Social Security benefits based upon the 1910-1916 cohort. Social Security retirees born immediately afterwards during the so-called "notch" period running approximately from 1917 to 1921 --- such as Quillen's wife Cecile --- perceived agency mistreatment and petitioned members of Congress for a similar upward and unwarranted windfall adjustments for payments to their own Social Security benefits.
Controversies
Quillen amassed a large campaign treasury due to having received many large individual and PACPolitical action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
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 federal income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
then due; he did not do so and continued to seek re-election past the deadline.
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."
U.S. Rep. Quillen introducing amendment to the Teague-Cranston Act
In April 1971, U.S. Representative Olin Teague of Texas introduced a bill to create five medical schools in conjunction with established VA hospitals and U.S. Senator Alan CranstonAlan Cranston
Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American journalist and Democratic Senator from California.-Education:Cranston earned his high school diploma from the old Mountain View High School, where among other things, he was a track star...
of California introduced a companion bill within the U.S. Senate. Known as the Teague-Cranston Act, the lfederal legislative proposal called for the creation of five new medical schools in five states to meet the needs of the medically underserved areas of the country.
Congressman 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
Mountain Home, Tennessee
Mountain Home, Tennessee, zip code 37684, is a separate postal zone consisting of the grounds of the Mountain Home VA hospital and Mountain Home National Cemetery, which also includes classrooms and administrative buildings of the medical and pharmacy school of East Tennessee State University. It...
. However, the October 4, 1993 edition of the Kingsport Times-News released an investigative report entitled "Story of ETSU medical school's founding not always in agreement with facts" documented several facts pertaining to the Teague-Cranston Act that disputed Quillen's district claim of his amendment sponsorship :
- one of the Teague-Cranston Act medical schools "was established at Texas A&M" within the district of U.S. Rep. Ollin Teague and located about seventy miles away from the nearest Veterans Administration hospital;
- Quillen only become a signatory sponsor two months after Teague had introduced the original bill specifying the creation of medical colleges in medically under served areas of the United States;
- the Teague-Cranston Act was never in any danger of failing within the U.S. House of Representatives and the legislation had actually been passed in the House by an over-whelming margin. and;
- a memo from the Nixon Administration indicates that Nixon signed the bill "...primarily as an election-year gesture toward veterans."
The Teague-Cranston Act passed without a dissenting vote in October 1972, and was signed by U.S. President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
.
Renaming of ETSU Quillen-Dishner College of Medicine
While serving as governor of Tennessee, fellow Republican Winfield DunnWinfield Dunn
Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn was the 43rd Governor of Tennessee, from 1971 to 1975.-Biography:Dunn was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1950 with a B.B.A., and from the University of Tennessee Medical Units in Memphis in 1955 with a D.D.S. Dunn...
incurred Quillen's wrath by opposing the establishment of a medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
at East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...
. 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
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, 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 Democratic State House
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
, Ned McWherter
Ned McWherter
Ned Ray McWherter was an American politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee from 1987 to 1995. He was a Democrat.McWherter was born in Palmersville, Weakley County, Tennessee...
. 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", and is now officially known as the East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine
The James H. Quillen College of Medicine is a medical school, part of East Tennessee State University located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is one of two public medical schools in Tennessee, the other being the University of Tennessee College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health...
.
Quillen's Kingsport Development Co., Inc.
In 1972, a public interest task force led by Ralph NaderRalph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
pointed a very public finger at Rep. Quillen, accusing the congressman of using his elected office to "...promote his business interests, specifically insurance sales through Kingsport Development Co., Inc.", a Kingsport based real estate and insurance agency owned by Quillen.
USPS Recall of 1980 Olympic Postage Stamps
In 1980, UPI Washington syndicated news reported that the United States Postal Service was "...investigating whether Rep. James H. Quillen, R-Tenn. illegally purcahsed hundreds of commemorative Olympic postage stamps after they were recalled" after the "stamps were ordered recalled last March 11 because of the U.S. boycott of the summer games in Moscow, and those stamps had been previously sold became collectors' items." A USPS spokesman said that postal inspectors were looking into whether Quillen had purchased the stamps before or after the recall order.Savings & Loan "Supervisory Goodwill"
In 1989, Quillen (also a banker) worked against pending legislation for the savings and loan industry that would prohibit S&Ls from carrying "supervisory goodwill" - a form of phantom capital to count toward their capital requirements" for accounting and regulatory reports.Passed Over for U.S. House Rules Committee Chairmanship
Quillen's fellow Republicans passed him over in 1990 for consideration as ranking Republican on the House Rules CommitteeUnited States House Committee on Rules
The Committee on Rules, or Rules Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. Rather than being responsible for a specific area of policy, as most other committees are, it is in charge of determining under what rule other bills will come to the floor...
in favor of Gerald Solomon of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, 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 later gained control of Congress after the 1994 elections.
Rebuking 1992 Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton as a "Draft Dodger"
The October 25, 1992 edition of the Johnson City Press reported that both Quillen and former U.S. Senate Howard Baker, while in Jonesborough, Tennessee on their Bush/Quayle/Quillen Victory Bus tour, attacked the character of U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Clinton with Quillen telling the assembled crowd, "We don't want a draft dodgerDraft dodger
Draft evasion is a term that refers to an intentional failure to comply with the military conscription policies of the nation to which he or she is subject...
as president of the United States.," and referring to the 1992 elections as "a national crisis". Quillen had himself avoided conscription into military service during the early 1940s.
Orlando Sentinel Congressional "Baseball Hitting Percentages"
In 1993, a study first featured within the Orlando Sentinel used a baseball hitting percentages statistical analogy to rate the effectiveness of members of the U.S. Congress, listed Rep. Quillen with a .000 average.Support of NAFTA and GATT
Quillen voted for approval of the 1994 modifications to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was negotiated during the UN Conference on Trade and Employment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization . GATT was signed in 1947 and lasted until 1993, when it was replaced by the World...
and approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
.
Retirement
Quillen did decide to retire prior to the 1996 election and was succeeded by Circuit Court Judge William L. JenkinsWilliam L. Jenkins
William Lewis "Bill" Jenkins is a politician from the state of Tennessee. He represented the state's 1st Congressional district, centered around the Tri-Cities , from 1997 until his successor was sworn in on January 3, 2007....
, a fellow Republican.
Quillen holds the record for the longest unbroken tenure of a Tennessean within the U.S. House of Representatives. Only Reece had been elected to more terms in the House (18 to Quillen's 17), and only Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth Douglas McKellar was an American politician from Tennessee who served as a United States Representative from 1911 until 1917 and as a United States Senator from 1917 until 1953...
had served in both chambers longer.
After retiring, Quillen was inducted as an honorary member of the East Tennessee State University chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Tau Kappa Epsilon is a college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University with chapters in the United States, and Canada, and affiliation with a German fraternity system known as the Corps of the Weinheimer Senioren Convent...
fraternity.
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
King College
King College is a private, comprehensive college located in Bristol, Tennessee. Founded in 1867, King is independently governed with covenant affiliations to the Presbyterian Church and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church ....
, Milligan College
Milligan College
Milligan College is a Christian liberal arts college founded in 1866 and located immediately outside of Elizabethton in Carter County, Tennessee, United States. The school has a student population of just over 1,100 students as well as a campus that is located just minutes from downtown Johnson City...
, Carson-Newman College
Carson-Newman College
Carson–Newman College is a historically Baptist liberal arts college located in Jefferson City, Tennessee, United States. Enrollment as of 2006-2007 was about 2,050. The college's students come from 44 U.S. states and 30 other countries. Studies are offered in approximately 90 different academic...
, and Tusculum College
Tusculum College
Tusculum College is a coeducational private college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church , with its main campus in Tusculum, Tennessee, United States, a suburb of Greeneville...
each received $250,000 for scholarships. East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...
received an estimated $14.6 million for two scholarship endowments, including one for students of James H. Quillen College of Medicine
East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine
The James H. Quillen College of Medicine is a medical school, part of East Tennessee State University located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is one of two public medical schools in Tennessee, the other being the University of Tennessee College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health...
.
The East Tennessee State University Charles C. Sherrod Library also maintains the "Quillen Congressional Office and Gallery" on the fourth floor of the building, serving as a memorabilia shrine with an excat size replica of longtime U.S. Congressional Representative James H. Quillen's former Washington D.C. office within the U.S. House of Representatives The Quillen collection is open Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and by appointment.
External links
- ETSU Archives of Appalachia – James H. Quillen Congressional Office and Gallery
- On The Issues — James Quillen on Government Reform
- Quillen College of Medicine Developmental Photos
- Tennessee State Library and Archives. Congressman Jimmy Quillen kissing the winner of the 1969 Miss Rhododendron pageant at the Rhododendron Festival, Roan Mountain.
- Tennessee State Library and Archives. Congressman Jimmy Quillen kissing the "Ramp Queen" winner of the 1965 Cocke County Ramp Festival at Cosby,Tennessee.