(AP) — John Paul Hammerschmidt, the longtime Arkansas congressman who defeated Bill Clinton in the former president's first race for political office, died Wednesday. Hammerschmidt first won election to Congress in 1966 — a milestone election year for the state's Republicans. Hammerschmidt's election, and Winthrop Rockefeller's as governor, were the first for Republicans in those seats since Reconstruction. During a re-election bid in 1974, Hammerschmidt handed the future President Clinton one of his only two political defeats. Hammerschmidt, a World War II veteran who studied at the Citadel, had operated a lumber and business supply company in the Harrison area before being elected to represent the 3rd Congressional District in heavily Republican northwestern Arkansas.