Timeline

The Asian Exclusion Act bars all Asian immigrants to the U.S.

Newspaper headline from May 26, 1924 from the THE DAY, New London, Connecticut

Oldest of four children of Hyotaro and Kame Imanaga Inouye. Father Hyotaro immigrated as a child to Hawaii from Japan aboard the S.S. City of Peking on July 24, 1899.

View his naturalization documents.

Senator as a baby; dated March 1, 1925

U.S. enters World War II.

Inouye was one of the youngest, and second to last to be accepted as a member of the 442nd Regiment for Japanese-American soldiers.

Inouye loses right arm in an attack against a German bunker in northern Italy.

Returns home with a Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star Medal, 2 Purple Hearts, and 12 other medals and citations.

Dan Inouye’s Law Degree diploma from George Washington University Law School, November 11, 1952 in Washington, D.C.

Inouye will later become majority leader for the Territorial House, and then move on to the
Territorial Senate.

Official Photo of the Members of the House of Representatives – the 28th Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii, 1955.

Democratic Party of Hawaii takes control of Territorial Legislature and becomes majority party.

Robert Oshiro, Governor John Burns and Senator Dan Inuoye

Senator and Maggie in the House campaign.

Becomes first Japanese-American senator.

Read his maiden speech to the U.S. Senate.

Newly elected U.S. Senator Dan Inouye being sworn into the U.S. Senate by Vice President Lyndon B Johnson on Jan. 9, 1963.

The Civil Rights Act signing ceremony by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Senator Dan and Maggie Inouye with newly born son — Kenny (about 6 weeks old) taken on August, 31, 1964 by Associated Press.

Delivers keynote – Democratic National Convention in Chicago

Read a transcript of the keynote address.

Inouye and others call for end to American military involvement in Vietnam.

Participates in nationally televised hearings that mesmerized the American public and led to President Nixon’s resignation.

Read his opening statement.

Inouye serves as first chairman of a committee created after a 15-month investigation into abuses by the nation’s intelligence agencies.

Senator Inouye as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee with Vice Chair Senator Barry Goldwater on February 23, 1977.

Committee investigates alleged arms-for-hostages program.

Read his closing statement from the hearings.

Senator Inouye chairing the Senate Select Committee Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair in 1987.

During his tenure as chairman, Inouye led the enactment of landmark legislation affecting almost every aspect of life in Native America.

Senator Inouye in an Indian headdress with the Crow Nation in March 2008.

Inouye served as chairman of this subcommittee three different times between 1989 and 2012 as Senate control changed from Democratic to Republican.

As Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. Senator Inouye rode in a helicopter to get an aerial briefing of Hawaii’s military.

The Distinguished Service Cross, given to 22 Asian-American soldiers who served in World War II, is finally upgraded to a Medal of Honor.

Senator Inouye speaking on the U.S. Senate floor regarding the war in Iraq.

Inouye’s chairmanship served Hawaii and the nation well with jurisdiction over aviation, martitime, telecommunications, tourism, science and technology.

Dan Inouye and Irene Hirano Inouye marry on May 24, 2008. Photo by Erik Hyler.

As chairman, the senator focused on strengthening national security while ensuring our armed forces had the best equipment and training.

Senator Inouye confers with Senator Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska, during a hearing.

Baby Maggie visits grandpa at his office in the Hart Senate Office Building in 2010.

As President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate (third in line of presidential succession), Inouye becomes the highest-ranking public official of Asian descent in U.S. history.

Senator Inouye presiding over the U.S. Senate as its newly named President Pro Tempore on June 30, 2010.

Senator Inouye’s Senate and House colleagues paid him the greatest tribute by unanimously passing a Joint Resolution on December 18th to allow his body to lie in state in the rotunda of our nation’s capitol.

Inouye was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

Irene Hirano accepts the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom for her late husband Daniel Inouye.