On Politics
BY RICHARD BORRECA
After 40 years,
the senator from Hawaii
is still going strongWASHINGTON >> Question: In the history of the U.S. Senate, who has served the longest?
Even those with only mild interest in political trivia can answer Strom Thurmond. The 100-year old former South Carolina senator served 47 years.
Now, answer this one: Who is the sixth longest-serving U.S. senator? The answer is Daniel K. Inouye, who has been in the senate for 40 years.
Because Thurmond, Carl Hayden (No. 3), and John Stennis (No. 4) are all out of office, Inouye will move to third in seniority, behind Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) and Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) at the end of his next term.
And Inouye does intend to claim that ranking.
"I won't make any bones about it, if my health holds up, I will run again," Inouye said in an interview in his office here on Capitol Hill.
Inouye, like his fellow Hawaii Democrat, Sen. Daniel Akaka, was born in September of 1924. If Inouye wins re-election, he will be 80 upon starting his next six-year term.
Akaka, who has had knee and hip replacements, looks and acts strong and healthy.
Inouye also looks healthy and sharp, but he tells an interesting story how his health almost forced him to quit politics during his first Senate term.
"I had surgery in 1967," Inouye explained, saying he has a 16-inch scar on his chest to prove it.
The operation was for a suspected lung cancer.
"They were going to take out the whole thing," he said.
Tests showed a thick spot in his lung; surgery was ordered.
Inouye called John A. Burns, his political mentor and the governor of Hawaii.
"I said 'Jack, a letter is coming over and you better read it carefully. I am sending in my resignation effective after my surgery, because I know this is what I got and if the doctors tell me it is terminal, I am quitting because I can't represent the people of Hawaii in a hospital bed.'"
The surgery showed that a month-old bruise from a fall had led to a hematoma on his lung. He was in no danger.
"I called up Jack and said 'Destroy that letter,'" Inouye laughed, noting the scare caused him to quit smoking.
In preparation for his campaign next year, Inouye said he had just completed a two-day series of tests and the doctors at Walter Reed Hospital proclaimed him good to go.
He is looking forward to coming back to Honolulu for the 60th anniversary of his infantry battalion, the 442 Regimental Combat Team. Inouye, who lost an arm in Italy in World War II, ruefully admitted that time has changed the annual celebration.
He recalled how during previous celebrations the army buddies would party all night.
"Now, it is a lunch and your son or your grandson drives. All you do is sit down and say hi," Inouye said.
With all those reflections, the obvious question came up: Will next year be his last race?
Inouye, whose battalion earned the nickname "Go for Broke," switched from reflective vet to hard-eyed politician.
"At the end of the term I will be 86. I have reached the point where if your health holds and you have the drive, you should stay in," he declared.
Richard Borreca writes on politics every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached at 525-8630 or by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com.
