Hill was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.[1] His father, Jay F. Hill ran a Little Rock-based financial firm that he inherited from his father, James “Jay” Wilson Hill.[2] As a teenager, French Hill worked in the family financial firm during the summer months.[2]
From 1982 to 1984, Hill was an aide to Republican Senator John Tower.[1] He was a staffer on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.[1] Hill was executive secretary to President George H. W. Bush’s Economic Policy Council from 1991 to 1993, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Corporate Finance from 1989 to 1991.[1][5] Hill founded and was CEO and chairman of the Board Delta Trust and Banking Corporation in Little Rock until its acquisition by Simmons Bank in 2014.[6]
Hill was renominated in the Republican primary over Brock Olree of Searcy (White County) and was reelected with 58% of the vote against the Democratic nominee, former Little Rock School District Board President Dianne Curry, and Libertarian nominee Chris Hayes of North Little Rock.[9]
In 2017, Arkansas's 2nd district was included on the initial list of Republican-held seats targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2018.[10] In the November general election, Hill defeated Democratic nominee Clarke Tucker with 52.1% of the vote to Tucker's 45.8%. Libertarian Joe Swafford received 2%.[11]
Hill ran for another term. Sarah Huckabee Sanders endorsed Hill, speaking at a rally in support of him.[12]
In 2020, the Hill campaign warned that Democratic nominee Joyce Elliott was "as dangerous as they come".[1] Hill warned that if elected, Elliott would "be a member of the Democratic conference and she'd be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and her first vote would be for Speaker Pelosi to be the speaker of the House."[1] In the November general election, Hill defeated Elliott.[13]
Hill ran for reelection in 2022 and beat his Democratic opponent Quintessa Hathaway, winning with 60.0% of the vote.[14]
Tenure
Hill has been a member of the U.S. House during the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. During Trump's presidency, Hill voted in line with the president's position 96.8% of the time.[15] At the start of Biden's presidency, Hill opposed Biden's decision to cancel the Keystone Pipeline. He said he wanted to work with the Biden administration on policy issues including Iran, free trade, and immigration.[16] As of October 2021, Hill had voted in line with Biden's stated position 12.5% of the time.[17]
In 2020 and 2021, Hill strongly opposed plans by the United States and other nations in the G7 to issue a $650 billion Special Drawing Rights general allocation, calling for a specific and targeted allocation instead.[25]
Hill strongly supported Biden's airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria.[26]
In 2022, Hill was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.[36][37]
^"J. French Hill". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
^"Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^"Member List". Republican Study Committee. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
^"Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
^"Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved December 11, 2018.