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Video: John Dingell in His Own Words, Relishing Decades as 'A Witness to History'

February 08, 2019, 5:03 PM by  Alan Stamm


Two months before announcing his retirement, John Dingell read a letter to his younger self in a CBS News series. 

A reflective self-tribute read by John Dingell just over five years ago now seems like an advance eulogy.

It's a remarkable, touching homage to a life of public service, social justice commitment and devotion to country and family -- written and presented by its subject. Expect to be moved by his four-minute video essay below, presented as part of a "Note to Self" series on "CBS This Morning." 

"John, you have no idea of all that you will do and all that you will become," begins the politicial giant who died Thursday at 92. "You will see much of the best and the worst times of our beloved nation. . . .

"You will be a witness to history your entire life. At times you will know it and at times you will only realize it by looking back. . . . You will always have a fire in your belly."


"You'll always have a fire in your belly."
(Photos: CBS News screenshots)

The Dearborn Democrat read those words in the hearing room of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which he chaired from 1981-95 and 2007-09. The were broadcast in December 2013, two months before Dingell announced that wouldn't try for a 31st term. 

Dingell talks about first entering the U.S. Capitol -- "the biggest room [I] had ever been in" -- at age 7 in March 1933 to see John Dingell Sr. sworn in for the first of 11 terms in a seat the son later held. "The majesty and magic of that place is never going to expire," the 87-year-old congressman pretends to tell himself as a youth.

He recalls learning from his dad about "the tenets of a thing called social justice -- that men and women can take actions to promote a common good," and imagines telling his younger self: "Boy, your dad will be proud of you."

With a CBS soundtrack of gentle music similar to what may be heard Tuesday morning as mourners arrive for a funeral mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Dearborn, Dingell also salutes his family: "Your greatest blessings will be four children and your beautiful, loyal and loving wife -- your best friend, the lovely Deborah." 

There's much more in the poignant presentation below, supplemented by vintage photos. You may need a tissue.


Read more:  YouTube


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