the Fourteenth Amendment, which extended civil rights to African Americans. Conservatives vehemently opposed the amendment and organized another quorum bust. After two of the quorum-busting legislators were arrested and confined to the House chamber, the radicals argued this constituted a quorum, and pushed through the vote in favor ratifying the amendment. Heiskell resigned the Speakership in disgust. Mullins served as Speaker pro tempore at various times in late 1866 and early 1867. Congress Mullins was on the ballot for the 4th district congressional seat in 1865, but lost by a wide margin to Edmund Cooper, a state senator. A friend and confidant of Andrew Johnson, Cooper opposed the Radicals' agenda in Congress, and thus drew the ire of Brownlow. With the backing of Brownlow, Mullins again opposed Cooper for the congressional seat in 1867. Determined to defeat Johnson's ally, Brownlow dispatched two state guard companies to the fourth district, and prevented a large number of previously-eligible voters from registering. As a result, Mullins easily defeated Cooper, 9,448 votes to 3,225. In Congress, Mullins served on the Committee on Territories and the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions. He was described as a "remarkably ready debater" who gave speeches "characterized by much native wit as well as rugged common sense." He voted to impeach Andrew Johnson in February 1868, and voted in favor of the Fifteenth Amendment (which extended voting rights to minorities) in February 1869. During the late 1860s, Mullins became embroiled in a scandal when the Tennessee National Bank of Memphis, where the state's school fund had been deposited, failed. Mullins and several other former state legislators were accused of accepting bribes in exchange for supporting a measure that allowed the state treasurer (who eventually committed suicide) to deposit the fund in the Memphis bank. Mullins denied the charge, but his reputation nevertheless suffered. Mullins did not seek reelection to a second consecutive term. The Brownlow faction was only able to hold the seat after Brownlow (using the powers granted him by the franchise law that Mullins and Heiskell had squabbled over) disqualified the votes from several counties, allowing Lewis Tillman to win. Mullins ran for the seat again in 1870, but with former Confederates having regained the right to vote, he was badly defeated by the Democratic candidate, John Morgan Bright, 11,827 votes to 1,843. Later life In April 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Mullins internal revenue collector of