Daniel Inouye
Daniel Ken Inouye (/iːˈnoʊˌeɪ/ ee-NOH-ay;[1] September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was an American attorney, soldier, and politician who served as a United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. Beginning in 1959, he was the first U.S. Representative for the State of Hawaii, and a Medal of Honor recipient. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2010 until his death.[2] Inouye was the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in U.S. history[3] until Kamala Harris became vice president in 2021.[4] Inouye also chaired various senate committees, including those on Intelligence, Indian Affairs, Commerce, and Appropriations.
"Senator Inouye" redirects here. For the member of the Hawaii State Senate, see Lorraine Inouye.
Dan Inouye
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Inouye fought in World War II as part of the 442nd Infantry Regiment. He lost his right arm to a grenade wound and received several military decorations, including the Medal of Honor (the nation's highest military award). He later earned a J.D. degree from George Washington University Law School. Returning to Hawaii, Inouye was elected to Hawaii's territorial House of Representatives in 1953, and was elected to the territorial Senate in 1957. When Hawaii achieved statehood in 1959, Inouye was elected as its first member of the House of Representatives. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962. He never lost an election in 58 years as an elected official, and he exercised an exceptionally large influence on Hawaii politics.
Inouye was the second Asian American senator, following Hawaii Republican Hiram Fong. Inouye was the first Japanese American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the first to serve in the U.S. Senate. Because of his seniority, Inouye became president pro tempore of the Senate following the death of Robert Byrd on June 28, 2010, making him third in the presidential line of succession after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Inouye was a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Order of the Paulownia Flowers. Among other public structures, Honolulu International Airport has since been renamed Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in his memory.
Early life (1924–1942)[edit]
Daniel Ken Inouye was born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii on September 7, 1924.[5] His father, Hyotaro Inouye, was a jeweler[6] who had immigrated to Hawaii from Japan as a child.[7] His mother, Kame (née Imanaga) Inouye, was a homemaker[6] born on Maui to Japanese immigrants.[8] Her parents died young and she was adopted and raised by a family in Honolulu. Both of Daniel's parents were Christian, and met at the River Street Methodist Church in Honolulu. They married in 1923.[5] This heritage makes Daniel a Nisei (second-generation Japanese-American) through his father and a Sansei (third-generation) through his mother. Daniel was named after Kame's adoptive father.[5]
Inouye grew up in Bingham Tract, a Chinese-American enclave in Honolulu.[9] He was raised Christian,[10] and was the oldest of four children.[11] As a child, he collected homing pigeons which he hatched from eggs given to him at an army base in Schofield Barracks in return for him cleaning the coops. As a teenager, he worked on the local beaches teaching tourists how to surf.[12] Inouye's parents raised him and his siblings with a mix of American and Japanese customs. His parents spoke English at home, but had their children attend a private Japanese language school in addition to public school.[13] Inouye dropped out of the Japanese school in 1939 because he disagreed with his instructor's anti-American rhetoric, and focused on his studies at President William McKinley High School.[14] He intended to go to college and medical school after his planned 1942 graduation.[15]
Inouye witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, while still a senior in high school.[16] The Japanese surprise attack brought the United States into World War II. Being a volunteer first aid instructor with the Red Cross, he was called on by his supervisor to report to a Red Cross station set up at Lunalilo Elementary School.[17] There, he tended to civilians injured by antiaircraft shells that had fallen into the city. After the United States declared war on Japan the next day, Inouye took up a paid job from his Red Cross supervisor to work there as a medical aide. For the remainder of his senior year, Inouye attended school during the day, and worked at the Red Cross station at night.[18] He graduated from McKinley High School in 1942.[19] Although Inouye wanted to join the armed forces after graduating, he did not possess that right as a Japanese-American. The United States Department of War had declared all Japanese-Americans as "enemy aliens", which stipulated they could not volunteer or be drafted for military service.[20] Inouye enrolled at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in September 1942 as a premedical student with the goal of becoming a surgeon.[20]
Legacy[edit]
The Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, founded in 1993, is part of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.[127]
He made a cameo appearance as himself in the 1994 film The Next Karate Kid, giving the opening speech at Arlington National Cemetery for a commendation for Japanese-Americans who fought in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II.[128]
In 2001, the Forest Glen Annex at Fort Detrick in Silver Spring, Maryland dedicated building 503 as the Daniel K. Inouye Building, built to house the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC).[129]
In 2007, The Citadel dedicated Inouye Hall at the Citadel/South Carolina Army National Guard Marksmanship Center to Senator Inouye, who helped make the Center possible.[130]
In May 2013, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the next Arleigh Burke-class destroyer would be named USS Daniel Inouye (DDG-118).[131] The destroyer was officially christened at Bath Iron Works on June 22, 2019.[132]
In November 2013, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association renamed its Trailblazer Award in honor of Inouye, posthumously honoring him with the Senator Daniel K. Inouye NAPABA Trailblazer Award.[133]
In December 2013, the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope at Haleakala Observatory on Maui was renamed the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.[134]
Numerous federal properties at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam and around Hawai'i have been dedicated to Senator Inouye, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center (2013),[135] the Hawaii Air National Guard Daniel K. Inouye Fighter Squadron Operations & Aircraft Maintenance Facility (2014),[136] the Senator Daniel K. Inouye Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency building (2015),[137] the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies at Fort Derussy (2015),[138] and the Pacific Missile Range Facility Daniel K. Inouye Range and Operations Center on Kauai (2016).[139]
In 2014, Israel named the simulator room of the Arrow anti-missile defense system in his honor, the first time that a military facility has been named after a foreign national.[140]
A Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, tail number 5147, of the 535th Airlift Squadron, was dedicated Spirit of Daniel Inouye on August 20, 2014.[141]
The Parade Field at Fort Benning, Georgia, now Fort Moore since 2023, was rededicated to honor Senator Inouye on September 12, 2014.[142]
On April 27, 2017, Honolulu's airport was renamed Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in his honor.[143]
In 2018, Honolulu-based Matson, Inc. named its newest container ship, the largest built in the United States, the Daniel K. Inouye.[144]
The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo dedicated its pharmacy college the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) on December 4, 2019.[145]
In August 2021, while visiting Japan for the Tokyo Olympics, First Lady Jill Biden dedicated a room in the U.S. ambassador's residence to Inouye and his wife, Irene.[146]