John Dingell - Early Life, Education, and Early Career

Early Life, Education, and Early Career

Dingell was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the son of Grace (née Bigler) and John D. Dingell, Sr. (1894–1955), who represented Michigan's 15th district from 1933 to 1955. His father was of Polish descent and his mother had Swiss and Scots-Irish ancestry. His father's original surname had been Dzieglewicz. John D. Dingell, Sr. changed his name for his campaign for office with the slogan 'Ring (in) with Dingell.'

In Washington, D.C., John, Jr. attended Georgetown Preparatory School and then the House Page School when he served as a page for the U.S. House of Representatives from 1938 to 1943. He was on the floor of the House when President Roosevelt gave his famous speech after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In 1944, at the age of 18, Dingell joined the United States Army. He rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant and received orders to take part in the first wave of a planned invasion of Japan in November 1945; the Congressman has said President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb to end the war saved his life.

He then attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated with a J.D. in 1952. He was a lawyer in private practice, a research assistant to U.S. Circuit Court judge Theodore Levin, a Congressional employee, a forest ranger, and assistant prosecuting attorney for Wayne County until 1955.