John Duncan Sr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 1965 – June 21, 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Irene Baker |
| Succeeded by | Jimmy Duncan |
| Mayor of Knoxville | |
| In office 1959–1964 | |
| Preceded by | Cas Walker (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Robert L. Crossley (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John James Duncan (1919-03-24)March 24, 1919 Huntsville, Tennessee |
| Died | June 21, 1988(1988-06-21) (aged 69) Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Resting place | Duncan Family Cemetery Scott County, Tennessee |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Lois Swisher[1] |
| Children | 4, includingJimmy |
| Education | University of Tennessee (BA) Cumberland University (LLB) |
| Occupation | attorney |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
John James Duncan Sr. (March 24, 1919 – June 21, 1988) was an Americanattorney andRepublicanpolitician who representedTennessee's 2nd Congressional District in theU. S. House of Representatives from 1965 until his death in 1988.[1] He also served as Mayor ofKnoxville, Tennessee, from 1959 to 1964, and as assistantattorney general ofKnox County, from 1948 until 1956. He is the father of CongressmanJohn J. "Jimmy" Duncan, Jr., who succeeded him in Congress,[1] and current Tennessee State SenatorBecky Duncan Massey.
Duncan was born inHuntsville, Tennessee, the sixth of ten children of Cassie (Lee) and Flem Baird Duncan.[1][2] After completing grade school in the Huntsville area andHunstville High School, he won a $25 scholarship fromSears-Roebuck.[3][4] He enrolled in theUniversity of Tennessee in 1939, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science two years later.[5]
Following the outbreak ofWorld War II he joined theUnited States Army, serving from May 1942 to December 1945.[5] While in the army, he served as aspecial agent in the Security and Intelligence Division with the same paygrade as a master sergeant.[6][which?] After the war, Duncan enrolled inCumberland University's law school, from which he graduated in June 1947.[1] He became the state commander of theAmerican Legion in 1954.
Following his graduation, Duncan returned to Knoxville, where he had accepted a position as assistant attorney general of Knox County.[3][7] In late 1952, Duncan became embroiled in a local controversy when, as commander of theAmerican Legion's East Tennessee Division, he drafted a resolution condemning University of Tennessee's film society for a planned showing of several films starringCharlie Chaplin, who had been accused of being a communist sympathizer.[7] Reacting to the resolution, University of Tennessee presidentCloide Brehm cancelled the event. The school's newspaper, theOrange and White, nevertheless blasted Duncan's accusations as "nonsense."[7]
In 1959, Duncan was elected mayor of Knoxville in an election held to replace Mayor Jack Dance, who had died while in office. One of his first initiatives was to complete the overhaul ofMarket Square, which involved the demolition of the old Market House and its replacement by the Market Square Mall.[8] In spite of opposition from historical interests, who wanted to preserve the Market House, Duncan pushed forward with the transition, and by mid-1960 the Market House had been removed.[8][9]
Another contentious issue erupted in the Summer of 1960, when several black students fromKnoxville College initiated a series ofsit-ins to protestsegregation at downtown-area lunch counters.[10] With the backing of the Chamber of Commerce, Duncan formed a Good Will Committee, which encouraged downtown businesses to integrate their lunch counters. By July 1960, most downtown businesses had done away with their policies of segregation.[10] Duncan's early intervention in the crisis is often cited as one of the reasons Knoxville avoided the widespread integration-related violence that plagued other Southern cities during this period.[11]
Like his predecessors, Duncan struggled to alleviate the city's unemployment problem, which had been brought on by the closure of several textile mills and the shift of the city's major retail centers to West Knoxville.[12] Numerous companies expressed interest in relocating to Knoxville, but could not do so due to a lack of suitable industrial sites. Duncan proposed a bond issue to fund the preparation of a large industrial site, but met immediate opposition from the city's conservative elements, which rejected government subsidies for business, and the bond proposal was defeated in a referendum.[12]
In 1964, roughly 10 months into his second term as mayor, Duncan won a hard-fought Republicanprimary election in the Knoxville-based Second Congressional District. The district's seven-term incumbent,Howard Baker Sr., had died that January, and his wifeIrene held the seat for the rest of his term as a caretaker. Duncan was heavily favored due to his popularity as mayor of Knoxville and the heavy Republican tilt of the district. The 2nd had been one of the few areas of Tennessee where most residents supported the Union over the Confederacy. Its residents identified with the GOP soon after the return of peace, and have continued to support the Republicans through good times and bad ever since. As a result, the 2nd's seat has been in the hands of the GOP or its predecessors without interruption since 1857. He defeated Democrat Willard Yarborough by just under 10 percentage points, the closest race in the district since Baker's first run in 1950. The contest was closer than expected in part because the 2nd was nearly swept up inLyndon Johnson's national landslide in that year's presidential election;Barry Goldwater just barely carried it.
Duncan never faced another close contest, and was reelected 11 times, including two unopposed runs in 1972 and 1982. He often won re-election by some of the largest majorities of any congressman.[5] He was a member of theHouse Ways and Means Committee for much of his congressional career.[5] A staunch conservative, he supported U.S. involvement in theVietnam War, and advocated tougher policies against antiwar demonstrators.[1] Duncan voted against theVoting Rights Act of 1965 but in favor of theCivil Rights Act of 1968.[13][14] He was one of the first congressmen to endorseRichard Nixon for president in 1967.[15]
In the late 1970s, Duncan engaged in a protracted legislative struggle with environmentalists over theTennessee Valley Authority's construction ofTellico Dam, on theLittle Tennessee River, in Duncan's district.[16] The dam's completion had been halted over concerns for the endangeredsnail darter, which lived in the river. After numerous failed attempts to amend theEndangered Species Act to allow the dam's completion, Duncan managed to insert a rider into the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act in July 1979, on a day when most House members were absent.[16] The dam's opponents cried foul, but the bill nevertheless passed the Senate and was signed into law, allowing TVA to finally close the dam's gates.[16]
Duncan served in the House until his death fromprostate cancer in 1988.[17]
Duncan married Lois Swisher ofIowa City, Iowa in 1942. They had four children, includingJohn J. "Jimmy" Duncan Jr., who won his father's former congressional seat in thespecial election that followed his father's death.[1]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 2nd congressional district 1965 – 1988 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| People | |
