He was a New Deal liberal on economic matters, and took a leading role in Congress in forming national policy and spending regarding agriculture.

The seat had become vacant as a result of incumbent Congressman Wall Doxey's election to the United States Senate.

Although Whitten represented a district that grew increasingly suburban and Republican-leaning from the 1970s onward, his opposition to Reagan's program did not affect him at the ballot box.

He signed the Southern Manifesto condemning the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ordered the desegregation of public schools.

"[6] While on the floor of the Senate on March 21, 2018, now Senator Durbin referred to that quote from Whitten as "Whitten's Law," which implies that the Budget Committee is a political branch that makes budget promises while the Appropriations Committee is obliged to either make or break those promises during the budget-making process.

Declining to run for reelection to a historic 28th term in 1994, Whitten retired from the House as America's longest-serving Congressman (53 years and two months).

Whitten is also the 5th longest-serving Congressmember (House and/or Senate) behind Dingell, Daniel Inouye, Carl Hayden, and Robert Byrd.

Whitten authored That We May Live, written largely as a pro-development, pro-chemical pesticide answer to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, the seminal 1962 book that helped spur the modern environmental movement.

Each year, one graduating brother is selected to receive the award based on his leadership and commitment to the chapter, university, and community.