John J. Duncan | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 2nd district |
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Assumed office November 8, 1988 |
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Preceded by | John Duncan Sr. |
Personal details | |
Born |
John James Duncan Jr. July 21, 1947 Lebanon, Tennessee |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Lynn Duncan |
Residence | Knoxville, Tennessee |
Alma mater | University of Tennessee, George Washington University |
Occupation | attorney, judge |
Religion | Presbyterian |
Military service | |
Service/branch | |
Years of service | 1970–1987 |
Rank | Captain |
John James "Jimmy" Duncan Jr. (born July 21, 1947) is the U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 2nd congressional district, serving since 1988. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district is based in Knoxville.
Duncan was born in Lebanon, Tennessee. His "paternal grandparents were small farmers in Scott County, which in 1861 left Tennessee, refusing to follow the Volunteer State into the Confederacy, and declared itself 'the Free and Independent state of Scott.'" Duncan's parents were Lois (Swisher) and John Duncan Sr., who "hitchhiked into Knoxville with five dollars in his pocket,' and after an education at the University of Tennessee was elected mayor of Knoxville and then congressman." The elder Duncan was also a co-owner of the Knoxville Smokies of the "Sally League," for which his son "was a batboy, a ball shagger, scoreboard operator, and, as a freshman at the University of Tennessee, the Smokies’ public-address announcer." Duncan also worked as a grocery bagger and salesman at Sears while working his way through school. Duncan supported Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign, and sent the first paycheck he earned as a bagboy at the local A&P to the Goldwater campaign.
Duncan graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1969 with a Bachelor of Journalism degree and subsequently received a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. in 1973 and was admitted to the bar that same year. He also served in the Army National Guard from 1970 to 1987. He was an attorney in private practice until he became a state court judge in Knox County, Tennessee, where he served from 1981 to 1988.