Senator Daniel Inouye: September 7, 1924 - December 17, 2012

Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye September 7, 1924-December 17, 2012) was the senior United States Senator from Hawaii, a member of the Democratic Party, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in U.S. history.

Inouye was the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.

A senator since 1963, Inouye was the most senior senator. He is also the second longest serving U.S. Senator in history after Robert Byrd. Inouye 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 88, Inouye was the second-oldest current U.S. senator, after 88 year-old Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. He was also a World War II Medal of Honor recipient.