Broyhill, Joel T. (Joel Thomas), 1919-2006

Joel Thomas Broyhill was born in Hopewell, Virginia, in 1919. After graduating from George Washington University in 1941, Broyhill served as a captain and rifle company commander for the U.S. Army during World War II. His service in Germany, which included capture during the Battle of the Bulge and escape from a prisoner-of-war camp, earned him a bronze star. After the war, Broyhill returned to Arlington, Virginia, to work as a partner and general manager of his father's real-estate business, M.T. Broyhill and Sons, which flourished during the post-War suburban economic boom. Broyhill won his seat in Congress in 1952, the year of Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential landslide. During his career as state representative, Broyhill became an influential member of the House District Committee and a master of legislative strategy. In 1974, in the wake of the Watergate scandal and the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, Broyhill lost his seat to Democrat Joseph L. Fisher.