In just over two months, Jim Inhofe will step away from his seat in the United States Senate and an extraordinary political career that spanned seven decades. From state legislator to mayor of Tulsa to both houses of Congress, Inoffe, 87, has brought distinctly conservative values to every position, but has been especially influential in the Senate by understanding the need for compromise.
James Mountain Inhofe’s service in the Senate began, he said, with a humbling experience, one that would affect him for the next 28 years, to this day. He delivered his first speech on the Senate floor.
“Yes, I was a little jovial that day,” Senator Inoupe recalled in a recent interview.
Nearly three decades later, Inoffe still remembers how he, newly elected to fill out David Bourne’s unexpired term, brought the temerity he brandished in the House to a Senate debate, after which Senate President Pro Tempore, amiable West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, gave For advice.
“He said, ‘Young man, I like your spunk, but this is the United States Senate, this is not the House and this is not the way we operate,'” Inhofe said.
Inhofe said Senator Byrd explained this to him in detail: “If you make enemies, you’re not going to get anything done,” Inhofe remembers Byrd saying, “Everything is done by unanimous consent, so he said, ‘You’re dead in the water, you can’t do it.’ “.
That advice, Inoupa said now, shaped the way he approached his work from that day forward. He said it’s a big reason he’s continued to develop deep and productive friendships with Democrats like former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, Vermont independent Bernie Sanders and Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reid.
“All these people are good friends of mine,” Inoupa said. “They’re not supposed to be my best friends, but they are and we do things no one else could do.”
Inhofe and Boxer alternated as chairman and ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which among other things approves federal highway funding. He and Senator Reid are currently the ranking member and chairman, respectively, of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is responsible for the annual defense authorization bill.
Inoupa said those were the two things — roads and defense — that he decided early in his Senate career that he wanted to focus on.
“Go and read the constitution,” said Inofa, “the constitution says there are two main things we do: one is the military – we want to protect America – and the other is infrastructure. So I got on committees that are necessary – the environment and public works… and then of course [Armed Services].”
Inhofe said he combined his understanding of the Constitution’s mandate with Sen. Byrd’s scientific advice and found that he and his colleagues across the aisle were able to do important work for the country, something he is very proud of as he nears retirement.
“There is no reason to make enemies because of problems,” said Senator Inoupa.
