Inouye << ih NOH way >>, Daniel Ken (1924-2012), a Democrat from Hawaii, was the first Asian American to serve in both houses of the United States Congress. Inouye served in the House of Representatives from 1959 to 1963 and then in the Senate from 1963 to 2012. In the Senate, he chaired the Committee on Indian Affairs, the Committee on Appropriations, and the Select Committee on Intelligence. In the 1970’s, Inouye served on the select committee investigating the Watergate scandal. In 1987, he chaired the select committee investigating the Iran-contra affair. From 2010 until his death, Inouye served as president pro tempore (temporary president) of the Senate. He had assumed the position following the death of Senator Robert Byrd.
As a senator, Inouye did much work on legislation concerning casinos on Indian reservations. He supported a 1988 bill that legalized casino gambling on reservations and later sponsored legislation to tighten federal control over the practice.
Inouye was born in Honolulu on Sept. 7, 1924. In 1943, during World War II, he enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army. He served in France and Italy in 1943 and 1944 and lost his right arm in the war. Inouye was released from the Army as a captain in 1947. He was awarded many military decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. In 2000, 55 years after the end of the war, Inouye received the Medal of Honor, the highest military award given by the United States government.
In 1950, Inouye earned a bachelor’s degree in government and economics from the University of Hawaii, also spelled University of Hawai‘i. In 1952, he received a law degree from George Washington University. He began working as a lawyer in Honolulu in 1953.
In 1953 and 1954, Inouye served as assistant public prosecutor in Honolulu. He was a member of Hawaii’s territorial House of Representatives from 1954 to 1958 and a member of the territorial Senate in 1958 and 1959. After Hawaii became a state in 1959, Inouye was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He was reelected to the House in 1960. In 1962, he ran for the U.S. Senate instead and won election to his first term as a U.S. Senator. He took office in 1963. Inouye died on Dec. 17, 2012.
In 2013, the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST), located at the top of Haleakala, a dormant volcano on the Hawaiian island of Maui, was renamed the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) in Inouye’s honor. When it began scientific operations in 2022, it was the most powerful solar telescope on Earth.
