--- description: 87-year-old Democrat John Dingle, who has represented Michigan since 1955, announced on Monday that he is retiring title: John Dingell, Longest-Serving Congressman, Retiring From Michigan Seat image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefe00956110c3ba5/698682f71eebf792da36f8b0/johndingell.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Longest-Serving Congressman John Dingell Is Retiring by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2014 3:28 PM CUT  Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., in 2013. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., in 2013.Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc. by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2014 3:28 PM CUT Congressman John Dingell of Michigan, the longest-serving member of Congress, is [retiring](http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigans-john-dingell-longestserving-member-of-congress-is-retiring/-/1719418/24635834/-/3of38bz/-/index.html "undefined"). Dingell, who represents Michigan’s 12th district, announced his retirement Monday. The 87-year old Democrat and dean of the House of Representatives was first elected in 1955, and is the longest-serving member at 58 years last year. He was first elected at the age of 29. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle paid tribute to the Michigan representative’s historic career. “Congressman Dingell is a living legend and one of the most prominent and accomplished lawmakers in American history and it has been a great honor to serve beside him,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D—N.J.). “From Medicare, to the Affordable Care Act, to the Clean Air Act, Congressman Dingell’s work endures and continues to improve people’s lives every day.” “By any standard, he will not only be viewed as the ‘Dean of the House,’ but also one with an incredible record of getting the job done,” said Rep. Fred Upton (R—MI). “The term ‘legendary’ will always be associated with the name ‘John Dingell.'” The retiring congressman’s wife, Deborah, is considered a possible candidate for his congressional seat. In 2009, TIME [asked Dingell](http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1878671,00.html "undefined"), who was representing Michigan’s 15th district at the time, whether he would run for Congress in 2010. “When that time comes, Deborah and I sit down and we decide what the people of the 15th want, we decide what the good Lord wants, and then we decide what we want,” he said. “That’s a decision I make every two years, and I don’t make it before the right time.” He did run again—twice. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/9277/longest-serving-congressman-john-dingell-is-retiring/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/9277/longest-serving-congressman-john-dingell-is-retiring/"},"headline":"Longest-Serving Congressman John Dingell Is Retiring","datePublished":"2014-02-24T15:28:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:28:09.490Z","description":"87-year-old Democrat John Dingle, who has represented Michigan since 1955, announced on Monday that he is retiring","url":"https://time.com/9277/longest-serving-congressman-john-dingell-is-retiring/","keywords":["Congress","Michigan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefe00956110c3ba5/698682f71eebf792da36f8b0/johndingell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltefe00956110c3ba5/698682f71eebf792da36f8b0/johndingell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Affordable Care Act","caption":"Affordable Care Act","creditText":"Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/9277/longest-serving-congressman-john-dingell-is-retiring/","name":"Longest-Serving Congressman John Dingell Is Retiring"}}]}] ```