John James Duncan Sr. (March 24, 1919 – June 21, 1988) was an American attorney and Republican politician who represented Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1965 until his death in 1988. He also served as Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, from 1959 to 1964, and as assistant attorney general of Knox County, from 1948 until 1956. He is the father of Congressman John J. "Jimmy" Duncan, Jr., who succeeded him in Congress, and current Tennessee State Senator Becky Duncan Massey. Early life Duncan was born in Huntsville, Tennessee, the sixth of ten children of Cassie (Lee) and Flem Baird Duncan. After completing grade school in the Huntsville area and Hunstville High School, he won a $25 scholarship from Sears-Roebuck. He enrolled in the University of Tennessee in 1939, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science two years later. Following the outbreak of World War II he joined the United States Army, serving from May 1942 to December 1945. While in the army, he served as a special agent in the Security and Intelligence Division with the same paygrade as a master sergeant. After the war, Duncan enrolled in Cumberland University's law school, from which he graduated in June 1947. He became the state commander of the American Legion in 1954. Political career Knox County prosecutor Following his graduation, Duncan returned to Knoxville, where he had accepted a position as assistant attorney general of Knox County. In late 1952, Duncan became embroiled in a local controversy when, as commander of the American Legion's East Tennessee Division, he drafted a resolution condemning University of Tennessee's film society for a planned showing of several films starring Charlie Chaplin, who had been accused of being a communist sympathizer. Reacting to the resolution, University of Tennessee president Cloide Brehm cancelled the event. The school's newspaper, the Orange and White, nevertheless blasted Duncan's accusations as "nonsense." Mayor of Knoxville 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 of Market Square, which involved the demolition of the old Market House and its replacement by the Market Square Mall. 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