PHOTOS: Elijah Cummings's political timeline of the civil rights champion

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., gestures during a press conference on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 in Washington. Cummings was part of a news conference to support the Civil Rights Act of 2004.  (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., gestures during a press conference to support the Civil Rights Act of 2004. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a sharecropper’s son who rose to become a civil rights champion and the chairman of one of the U.S. House committees leading an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, died Thursday of complications from long-standing health problems. He was 68.

Cummings was a formidable orator who advocated for the poor in his black-majority district, which encompasses a large portion of Baltimore and more well-to-do suburbs.

As chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Cummings led investigations of the president’s governmental dealings, including probes in 2019 relating to Trump’s family members serving in the White House.

Trump criticized the Democrat’s district as a “rodent-infested mess” where “no human being would want to live.” The comments came weeks after Trump drew bipartisan condemnation following his calls for Democratic congresswomen of color to get out of the U.S. “right now,” and go back to their “broken and crime-infested countries.”

Cummings replied that government officials must stop making “hateful, incendiary comments” that distract the nation from its real problems, including mass shootings and white supremacy.

“Those in the highest levels of the government must stop invoking fear, using racist language and encouraging reprehensible behavior,” Cummings said.

On Thursday morning, Trump tweeted his “condolences to the family and many friends of Congressman Elijah Cummings. I got to see first hand the strength, passion and wisdom of this highly respected political leader.” The brief tweet made no reference to past feuds. (AP)

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Portrait of politician and Maryland congressional representative Elijah Cummings in 1973. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
A 1973 portrait of Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Politician and Maryland congressional representative Elijah Cummings and politician, civil rights activist and preacher the Reverend Jesse Jackson in 1978. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, left, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Portrait of politician and Maryland congressional representative Elijah Cummings in 1985. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
A 1985 portrait of Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Members of the United States Senate, politician and Maryland congressional representative Elijah Cummings and Senator Barbara Mikulski, 1988. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Rep. Elijah Cummings and Sen. Barbara Mikulski in 1988. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Politician and Maryland congressional representative Elijah Cummings voting, Maryland in 1994. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Politician Elijah Cummings of Maryland voting in 1994. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
A half length portrait of US Representative Elijah Cummings, flanked by a man and a woman, speaking at the 2000 primary election, Maryland. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
Rep. Elijah Cummings speaking in Maryland before the 2000 primary election. (Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
U.S. President George W. Bush hosts a general agenda meeting about domestic education issues with U.S. congressional black caucus members in the Cabinet Room of the White House in 2001. From left, are: Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); Chair of Congressional Black Caucus Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX); Bush and Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD). (Photo: Larry Downing/Reuters)
President George W. Bush hosts a meeting about domestic education issues with Congressional Black Caucus members at the White House in 2001. From left: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Bush and Rep. Elijah Cummings. (Photo: Larry Downing/Reuters)
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., gestures during a press conference on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 in Washington. Cummings was part of a news conference to support the Civil Rights Act of 2004.  (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., gestures during a press conference in Washington to support the Civil Rights Act of 2004. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)
Elijah Cummings from the US House of Representatives speaks during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. (Photo: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images)
Rep. Elijah Cummings speaks during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. (Photo: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images)
Rep. Elijah Cummings (C) (D-MD) speaks during a press conference by Democratic members of the House Select Committee on Benghazi Sept. 16, 2014 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Also pictured (L-R) are Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Rep. Adam Schiff (L) (D-CA) and Rep. Tammy Duckworth (R) (D-IL). (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Rep. Elijah Cummings speaks during a 2014 press conference by Democratic members of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. From left: Rep. Adam Smith, Rep. Linda Sánchez, Cummings, Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Tammy Duckworth. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) delivers remarks during Freddie Gray's funeral at the New Shiloh Baptist Church during his funeral in 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Homes housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., left, and the committee's ranking Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., go to the House Rules Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, June of 2012, to argue procedures as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on whether Attorney General Eric Holder is in contempt of Congress because he has refused to give the Oversight Committee all the documents it wants related to Operation Fast and Furious, the flawed gun-smuggling probe involving Mexican drug cartels. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., left, and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., sit before the House Rules Committee in June 2012. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Congressional staff members gather at the Capitol to raise awareness of the recent killings of black men by police officers, both of which did not result in grand jury indictments, in Washington, Dec. 11, 2014. They are joined by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., second from left, and Senate Chaplain Barry Black, far right. The walkout came as both houses of Congress attempt to pass a spending measure and avert government shutdown.  (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Congressional staff members, joined by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., second from left, gather in 2014 at the Capitol to raise awareness after the recent killings of black men by police officers. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hugs House Select Committee on Benghazi ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D- Md., at the conclusion of a hearing on Capitol Hill on Oct. 22, 2015, in Washington.  (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hugs House Select Committee on Benghazi ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings at the conclusion of a hearing on Capitol Hill in 2015. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, speaks to reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 27, 2017. (Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland in April 2017. (Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asks Republican colleagues to intervene in the separation of immigrant families at the border, during opening remarks at a joint House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing examining the Inspector General's report of the FBI's Clinton email probe, on Capitol Hill, June 19, 2018 in Washington.  (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asks Republican colleagues to intervene in the separation of immigrant families at the border, during opening remarks at a joint hearing in June 2018. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) makes closing remarks after testimony from Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump, in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill Feb. 27, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings makes closing remarks after testimony in February from Michael Cohen, former attorney and fixer for President Trump, on Capitol Hill. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
House Oversight ant Reform Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings speaks at the National Press Club Aug. 7, 2019 in Washington, DC. Cummings addressed members of the organization during a luncheon and touched on a number of issues including ongoing investigations of U.S. President Donald Trump. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings addresses members of the National Press Club in August. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Black fabric drapes the doorway to Democratic Representative from Maryland Elijah Cummings office in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, 2019. (Photo: Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Black fabric drapes the doorway of Rep. Elijah Cummings’s office in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 17. (Photo: Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Flowers left by neighbor Mary Bianchi are seen on the doorstep to the home of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., Oct. 17, 2019, in Baltimore. (Photo: Julio Cortez/AP)
Flowers left by neighbor Mary Bianchi are seen outside Rep. Elijah Cummings’s home in Baltimore on Oct. 17. (Photo: Julio Cortez/AP)

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