DBWI: Inouye, President and War Hero, Dies at 88

This is some rather sad news, I'm afraid. Former President Daniel Inouye (1977-1985) has passed on at the age of 88. :(

Thoughts on his presidency, post-presidency and legacy? President Obama of course is the second Hawaiian to rise to the White House and it looks like he'll be the one giving the former President's eulogy. A sad day for American democracy, of course. Inouye united the country in trying times, and of course, his legacy as the man who passed national health insurance in 1978 is probably what he'll be most remembered for (other than the Iran hostage rescue mission).
 
This is some rather sad news, I'm afraid. Former President Daniel Inouye (1977-1985) has passed on at the age of 88. :(

Thoughts on his presidency, post-presidency and legacy? President Obama of course is the second Hawaiian to rise to the White House and it looks like he'll be the one giving the former President's eulogy. A sad day for American democracy, of course. Inouye united the country in trying times, and of course, his legacy as the man who passed national health insurance in 1978 is probably what he'll be most remembered for (other than the Iran hostage rescue mission).

Sad to see him go, TNF. He was one of the greatest presidents we'd ever had this last century or so. His handling of the Iranian Missile Crisis in November 1981 is to be commended.....if Reagan had been President instead, who knows how bad it could have gotten(thankfully, the stolen missiles were returned to the Soviets after the overthrow of the Mullahs in Feb. 1984)?
 
Last edited:
I personally always admired Inouye for doing what he did inspite of his disability, he was awesome for that reason alone. Though true the health care thing will be more hyped in the media, and it deserves to, America now has the best standards of care in the world. But hell he inspired generations, when life kicks you down, get up and do some kicking of your own.

America, indeed the world, has lost a great man.
 
According to the website of his Presidential Library located in Honolulu, over a million people signed the electronic condolence book causing the site to crash (luckily, it went back up after two hours).

Let's not forget that Inouye stood in 1976 as a favorite son in Hawaii so that he could deliver his delegates to Scoop Jackson. After the tragic death of Jimmy Carter in that plane crash in Atlanta a week before the convention, his delegates scattered to different candidates that after four rounds of voting, Inouye was nominated as a dark horse candidate and won the nomination in the fifth round. Reubin Askew fit the bill as a running mate because Inouye had to win the South (which he did while losing only Virginia).

And the rest is history.

RIP President Inouye.
 
Let's not forget that Inouye stood in 1976 as a favorite son in Hawaii so that he could deliver his delegates to Scoop Jackson. After the tragic death of Jimmy Carter in that plane crash in Atlanta a week before the convention, his delegates scattered to different candidates that after four rounds of voting, Inouye was nominated as a dark horse candidate and won the nomination in the fifth round. Reubin Askew fit the bill as a running mate because Inouye had to win the South (which he did while losing only Virginia).

While I respect Inouye, as a Republican I can't say I like a lot of his politics. Still, sad to see him go. Some people argue that he's the reason for four consecutive Republican victories in 92, 96, 2000, and 2004, but I think it was Askew's presidency from 85-89 that screwed the dems over. Either way, I think the nation is better off for having Presidents Specter (93-01) and Liddy Dole (01-09).
 
I was a 12-year-old kid living on Okinawa (my stepdad was stationed with the U.S. Army garrison) in 1976, and I remember Japan just about had two collective orgasms, first when he was nominated and then when he was elected. I remember how Japanese TV networks hunted down and interviewed anyone who had ever had any connection with the Inouyes, whether relatives, friends, or someone who'd once cooked ramen for Daniel's grandfather. And when the Senator did win, well....it was all Inouye, all the time, on all three Japanese-language TV channels on the island (back in those prehistoric pre-cable days) for the next week or so. I was pretty annoyed because all my favorite Go Nagai giant-mecha animes were preempted for specials on Inouye :D. It was probably the biggest thing to happen in U.S.-Japanese relations since the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

I also remember how the pundits all said no non-white, even if he was a Medal of Honor winner missing one arm, had a ghost of a chance of winning the South. The Sunday after the election, Bill Monroe, then the moderator of "Meet the Press", had a Crowning Moment of Funny when he sat several of those pundits (including Tom Wicker and David Broder, IIRC) down with a covered dish in front of each of them, lifted the lids and revealed a stuffed toy crow on each. Man, that was hysterical. (And at that, Inouye only lost Virginia in 1976 by a squeaker; it was almost close enough in the Old Dominion for a recount. He won the state by a thumping margin in 1980.)
 
I still think Inouye's policies are responsible for the terrible recession that occurred under Askew's presidency from 89 to 93. Those were some of the worst four years in American history...
 
" Still, sad to see him go. Some people argue that he's the reason for four consecutive Republican victories in 92, 96, 2000, and 2004, but I think it was Askew's presidency from 85-89 that screwed the dems over. Either way, I think the nation is better off for having Presidents Specter (93-01) and Liddy Dole (01-09).

Inouye forced the GOP to make a move to a sensible center while paranoid southerners like Askew and Zell Miller sent the party to the right and misread all the damn tea leaves when Eastern Europe had their great awakening. Inouye's greatest achievement? He forced the Republicans back to a common sense Nixon-Lodge-Dole style of common sense conservatism, at least for awhile.

The GOP left the kooks like Haig and Rumsfeld and the supply siders like Kemp, Laxault and DuPont alone and went back to Old Right Common Sense. Nothing bad to say about old Jack though. Best damn commissioner the NFL ever had.


I was a little surprised that Specter made it. I will say Liddy was the first Republican vote I ever cast, and she was good until she started listening to those fundie fools like Jim DeMint, who famously said, "Let Omaha Glow" during the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Accident in 2010.

It led to the first time Nebraska went Democratic since '64, in a landslide for the Obama-Kerrey ticket, of course having ol' Bob along didn't hurt.

Obama's a little bit like ol' "Go For Broke". Has that Aloha spirit, but he also knows how to play the dirty game of Washington.
 
Last edited:
Aloha, President.

With Akaka's retirement, Hawaii just lost a hell of a lot of seniority. Inouye went back the Senate in '86 and stayed there.
 
I was a 12-year-old kid living on Okinawa (my stepdad was stationed with the U.S. Army garrison) in 1976, and I remember Japan just about had two collective orgasms, first when he was nominated and then when he was elected. I remember how Japanese TV networks hunted down and interviewed anyone who had ever had any connection with the Inouyes, whether relatives, friends, or someone who'd once cooked ramen for Daniel's grandfather. And when the Senator did win, well....it was all Inouye, all the time, on all three Japanese-language TV channels on the island (back in those prehistoric pre-cable days) for the next week or so. I was pretty annoyed because all my favorite Go Nagai giant-mecha animes were preempted for specials on Inouye :D. It was probably the biggest thing to happen in U.S.-Japanese relations since the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

I also remember how the pundits all said no non-white, even if he was a Medal of Honor winner missing one arm, had a ghost of a chance of winning the South. The Sunday after the election, Bill Monroe, then the moderator of "Meet the Press", had a Crowning Moment of Funny when he sat several of those pundits (including Tom Wicker and David Broder, IIRC) down with a covered dish in front of each of them, lifted the lids and revealed a stuffed toy crow on each. Man, that was hysterical. (And at that, Inouye only lost Virginia in 1976 by a squeaker; it was almost close enough in the Old Dominion for a recount. He won the state by a thumping margin in 1980.)

You weren't still there during the riots of '78, I hope. Boy were the Ryukyuan nationalists pissed off when they didn't get independence!
 
You weren't still there during the riots of '78, I hope. Boy were the Ryukyuan nationalists pissed off when they didn't get independence!

No, we came back to the U.S. in mid-1977. The nationalists were fairly quiescent during the U.S. occupation, but as soon as the Ryukyus reverted back to Japan, the demos started. Oddly enough, while they were hostile as all hell to the mainland Japanese (there were some ugly incidents at places where Japanese SDF units were stationed, such as Naha Air Base/International Airport and White Beach, where several JMSDF ships were docked), they were never especially unfriendly to us Americans. I remember one nationalist leader being quoted in Stars and Stripes to the effect that the Americans had given the Ryukyus better government during the occupation than they'd ever gotten from Tokyo.

I know things got so bad during the 1978 crisis that at one point there were serious rumors that Tokyo was considering offering the islands back to the U.S. Nothing ever came of that, though, if in fact such a course was under consideration.
 
Just heard about it this morning; as a New Zealander, my respect for the man knew no bounds, especially the masterful way that he handled the Senate and Congress in 1984 after our Prime Minister of the time, David Lange, declared NZ a Nuclear-Free country.

A lesser man than President Inouye might have have taken petty retribution against us, but he, now he was a true statesman.

As some of you have said already, Aloha President Inouye, and RIP.
 
I also remember how the pundits all said no non-white, even if he was a Medal of Honor winner missing one arm, had a ghost of a chance of winning the South. The Sunday after the election, Bill Monroe, then the moderator of "Meet the Press", had a Crowning Moment of Funny when he sat several of those pundits (including Tom Wicker and David Broder, IIRC) down with a covered dish in front of each of them, lifted the lids and revealed a stuffed toy crow on each. Man, that was hysterical. (And at that, Inouye only lost Virginia in 1976 by a squeaker; it was almost close enough in the Old Dominion for a recount. He won the state by a thumping margin in 1980.)

OOC: Minor nitpick; Inouye was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross; the award was later upgraded to a Medal of Honor during Clinton's presidency, after a review determined that he qualified for it, but that it had been withheld due to racism. Inouye's candidacy and presidency ITTL would have predated this.
 
OOC: Minor nitpick; Inouye was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross; the award was later upgraded to a Medal of Honor during Clinton's presidency, after a review determined that he qualified for it, but that it had been withheld due to racism. Inouye's candidacy and presidency ITTL would have predated this.

OOC: Maybe there's an earlier commission or one under Askew that determines he deserved the MOH? Or perhaps there's an earlier POD where he is awarded it in the first place?
 
You realize he is an actual man who just died, right? Can we not do these threads until there is some time behind us? They aren't in good taste.
 
Top