Aloha, Senator Dan

Two war heroes

After my college graduation ceremonies were over, we took a car trip along the Eastern seaboard to the nation's capital. We gaped at the monuments and spent days walking about the Smithsonian. We toured the Capitol and took a peek at the offices of Daniel Inouye, our home state's then-junior senator. To our surprise, his secretary told us to come right in.

Senator Dan recognized my father as a fellow graduate of McKinley High and reminisced about the McCully neighborhood. They shot the breeze about old times and old friends. We had arrived unannounced, and he spoke to us as if he didn't have anything else on his calendar. (It was the summer of 1973, and the national spotlight was beginning to focus on him and other members of the Senate Watergate Committee.)

When he died earlier today, Senator Dan, as president pro tempore, was third in line to the Presidency. He had acquired enormous influence in the "world's most exclusive club", yet one never got the sense that he was owned by Washington. A staunch Democrat, Senator Dan had close Republican friends. He refrained from extreme partisanship, possibly costing himself a party leadership position in the Senate.

"A remarkable American life," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky). Amen. © 2012 Stephen Yuen

Why Does Senator Daniel Inouye Have Secret Service Protection?

Two old pros who worked on Watergate in 1974.

Answered via other questions and answers:

Q: who's next in the line of Presidential succession, after the Vice President and Speaker of the House?

A: The president pro tempore of the Senate.

Q: What does the president pro tempore do?

A: He* presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President, is the Senate's legal recipient of various reports, and serves on commissions and boards. (Obviously, the duties are largely ceremonial, but the office is third in line and it is in the Constitution.)

*Male singular pronoun used for convenience only.

Q: How is he elected?

A: "Since the mid-20th century, it has been traditional for the Senate to elect the senior member of the majority party as president pro tempore."

Q: Who is the current president pro tempore?

A. Daniel K. Inouye, 88-year-old Democratic Senator from Hawaii. We have posted about Medal of Honor recipient Senator Dan before (here and here).

Two sons of Hawaii grew up in the same middle-class neighborhood, albeit four decades apart, and are now important enough to be protected round-the-clock by the Secret Service. Last question: who would ever have believed it? © 2012 Stephen Yuen