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. Best known for local matters, Broyhill sponsored legislation that led to the construction of the Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson bridges across the Potomac River and the second span of the 14th Street Bridge, as well as a measure that led to the widening of Shirley Highway. He fought for better pay and working conditions for federal employees, federal aid to local school systems and financial support for Metro. Broyhill was also an unrelenting and outspoken opponent of "home rule" for the District of Columbia, arguing that the U.S. Constitution placed ultimate responsibility for the nation's capital with Congress, and he battled for years against measures to increase the authority of city residents to manage D.C. affairs. 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.

After losing his seat in Congress, Broyhill served as campaign manager for John W. Warner's successful first campaign for the Senate and returned to work for his family's real-estate development and investment company. On September 24, 2006, Broyhill died of congestive heart failure and pneumonia at his home in Arlington.