Voting Station

Walter B. Jones, Jr.

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U.S. Congressman

The Resume

    (February 10, 1943-February 10, 2019)
    Born in Farmville, North Carolina
    Served in the North Carolina House of Representatives (1983-93)
    Represented North Carolina’s 3rd District (1995-2019)

Why he might be annoying:

    He ran unsuccessfully for the House as a Democrat (1992); two years later, he won as a Republican.
    He joined Rep. Bob Ney in getting the House cafeteria to rename French fries as ‘freedom fries’ when France opposed the war in Iraq (2003).
    A few years later, he became an outspoken critic of the war, eventually declaring, ‘Lyndon Johnson’s probably rotting in Hell right now because of the Vietnam War, and he probably needs to move over for Dick Cheney.’
    He deviated from the Republican position on so many issues that the House leadership removed him from the Financial Services Committee (2012).
    He ran for reelection in 2018 despite having missed more than a quarter of all votes since July due to illness.
    After his last reelection, he was too ill to travel, so he was sworn in as member of the 116th Congress at his home in Farmville.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was married to Joe Anne Whitehurst for 52 years.
    He said his views on Iraq changed after he attended the funeral of a Marine sergeant and listened to his widow reading from his final letter home. (‘I had tears running from my eyes…. This was a spiritual happening for me.’)
    He wrote over 12,000 letters to relatives of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    In an annual survey by Washingtonian magazine, Congressional staffers named him the kindest member of the House (2005).
    He said about his contrarian reputation, ‘I would rather do what I think is right than sell my political soul.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 14 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 35.29% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 130 Votes: 53.08% Annoying