Daniel Inouye

From Ballotpedia
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This page was current at the end of the official's last term in officecovered by Ballotpedia. Pleasecontact us with any updates.
Daniel Inouye
Prior offices:
U.S. Senate Hawaii
Years in office: 1963 - 2012
Successor:Brian E. Schatz (D)

U.S. House Hawaii At-large District
Years in office: 1959 - 1963

Hawaii Territorial Senate
Years in office: 1958 - 1959

Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives
Years in office: 1954 - 1958
Education
High school
President William McKinley High School
Bachelor's
University of Hawaii, Manoa, 1950
Law
George Washington University Law Center, 1953
Military
Service / branch
U.S. Army
Years of service
1943 - 1947
Personal
Religion
Christian: Methodist
Profession
Attorney
Contact

Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye (b. September 7, 1924) was aDemocratic member of theU.S. Senate from the state ofHawaii. Inouye was first elected to the Senate in 1962. He died on December 17, 2012, from a respiratory illness.

Then-Lieutenant GovernorBrian Schatz was appointed to fill the seat until aspecial election could be held to fill the vacancy in 2014. Schatz went on to win the special election.[1][2]

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship byGovTrack, Inouye was a "rank-and-file Democrat."[3]

Biography

Inouye was born on September 7, 1924, in Honolulu,Hawaii, the son of Kame (née Imanaga) and Hyotaro Inouye. He is a Nisei Japanese-American (an American-born child of Japanese immigrants) and grew up in the Bingham Tract, a Chinese-American enclave within the predominantly Japanese-American community of Mo'ili'ili in Honolulu. He graduated from Honolulu's President William McKinley High School.[4]

Inouye was at the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 as a medical volunteer.[5] In 1943, when the U.S. Army dropped its ban on Japanese-Americans, Inouye curtailed his premedical studies at the University of Hawaii and enlisted in the Army.[6] He was assigned to the Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which became the most-highly decorated unit in the history of the US Army.[7]

Due to the loss of his arm, Inouye abandoned his plans to become a surgeon, and returned to college to study political science under the GI Bill. He graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1950 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He earned his law degree from The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. in 1953.[8]

Career

Inouye had continuously represented Hawaii in the U.S. Congress since it achieved statehood in 1959, serving as Hawaii's first U.S. Representative and later a senator. Inouye was the first Japanese-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and later the first in the U.S. Senate. At age 87, Inouye was the second-oldest current senator, after 87 year old Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. He was also a recipient of the United States Medal of Honor.[9]

Inouye serving as thePresident pro tempore of the United States Senate made him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in American history.[10]

Committee assignments

U.S. Senate

2011-2012

Inouye served on the following committees:

Issues

Political Positions

Following Senator Byrd's death on June 28, 2010, Inouye became the longest-serving living senator and President pro tempore of the United States Senate, making him third in the presidential line of succession. Sen. Byrd still holds the record for longest-serving senator of all time.[9]

Elections

2010

On November 2, 2010, Inouye won re-election to theUnited States Senate. He defeated Cam Cavasso (R), Jim Brewer (G), Lloyd Jeffrey Mallan (L), and Jeff Jarrett (I) in the general election.[12]

U.S. Senate, Hawaii General Election, 2010
PartyCandidateVote %Votes
    DemocraticGreen check mark transparent.pngDaniel K. InoyueIncumbent74.8%277,228
    Republican Cam Cavasso21.6%79,939
    Green Jim Brewer2.1%7,762
    Libertarian Lloyd Jeffrey Mallan0.8%2,957
    Independent Jeff Jarrett0.7%2,697
Total Votes370,583

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please considerdonating to Ballotpedia.

Analysis

Congressional staff salaries

See also:Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The websiteLegistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Inouye paid his congressional staff a total of $2,882,557 in 2011. He ranked 14th on the list of the highest paid Democratic senatorial staff salaries and ranked 16th overall of the highest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall,Hawaii ranked 10th in average salary for senatorial staff. The averageU.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[13]

Net worth

See also:Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) andNet worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based oncongressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available byOpenSecrets.org, Inouye's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $1,968,020 and $4,404,999. That averages to $3,186,509.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic senators in 2010 of $19,383,524.[14]

National Journal vote ratings

2011

See also:National Journal vote ratings

Each yearNational Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Inouye ranked 26th in the liberal rankings among U.S. senators.[15]

Voting with party

Daniel Inouye voted with the Democratic Party95 of the time, which ranked 21 among the 51 Senate Democratic members as of November 2011.[16]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the termDaniel + Inouye + Hawaii + Senate


Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
On May 24, 2008, Senator Inouye married Irene Hirano, who served as President of the U.S.-Japan Council. He was married for nearly 57 years to Margaret Awamura Inouye, a former instructor at the University of Hawaii, who passed away on March 13, 2006. He had a son, Ken, who is married to Jessica Carroll from Rochester, New York, and a granddaughter Mary Margaret "Maggie" Inouye.[9]

External links


Footnotes

  1. Star Advertiser, "Abercrombie picks Schatz to replace Inouye in U.S. Senate," December 26, 2012
  2. Associated Press, "Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii Dead at 88" accessed December 17,2012
  3. GovTrack, "Daniel Inouye," accessed March 3, 2012
  4. Inouye, accessed October 13, 2011
  5. [Associated Press (Chicago), "Keynoter Knows Sting of Bias, Poverty," St. Petersburg Times, accessed October 13, 2011]
  6. [Associated Press (Chicago), "Keynoter Knows Sting of Bias, Poverty," St. Petersburg Times, accessed October 13, 2011]
  7. Military, "100th Batallion, 442nd Infantry", accessed October 13, 2011
  8. [Associated Press (Chicago), "Keynoter Knows Sting of Bias, Poverty," St. Petersburg Times, August 27, 1968 accessed October 13, 2011]
  9. 9.09.19.2Daniel Inouye: United States Senator for Hawaii, "Biography" accessed October 13, 2011
  10. Politico, "Daniel Inouye now in line of presidential succession" accessed October 13, 2011
  11. 11.011.111.211.311.4Dan Inouye: U.S. Senator for Hawaii, "Committees" accessed October 13, 2011
  12. U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
  13. LegiStorm, "Daniel Inouye"
  14. OpenSecrets, "Inouye, (D-Hawaii), 2010"
  15. National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: Senate," accessed February 23, 2012
  16. OpenCongress, "Voting With Party," accessed July 2014
Political offices
Preceded by
Oren Long
U.S. Senate - Hawaii
1963–2012
Succeeded by
-Brian Schatz


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Democratic Party (4)


Flag of Hawaii
v  e
State ofHawaii
Honolulu (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? |Elections in 2026 |How to vote |How to run for office |Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? |U.S. President |U.S. Congress |Federal courts |State executives |State legislature |State and local courts |Counties |Cities |School districts |Public policy