Former Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe Passes Away After a Sudden Illness
Inhofe served as senator from 1994 to 2023.
Former Republican Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, 89, passed away over the holiday weekend after a sudden illness.
Born in Iowa, Inhofe moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a child. He went to Central High School and earned a degree in economics from the University of Tulsa. He was an Army veteran.
Inhofe served as senator from 1994 to 2023 when he retired. Before that, he represented Oklahoma in the House from 1987 to 1994 and was mayor of Tulsa from 1978 to 1984.
Inhofe had a reputation for being a hard worker, someone who always made his stance known and made no apologies for being a conservative:
In 1978, Inhofe eked out a victory over Democrat Rodger Randle to reenergize a career weighed down by consecutive high-profile losses. At the time, Inhofe said defeat would have meant his political end.
The 1994 contest matched Inhofe against fellow Congressman Dave McCurdy, a moderate Democrat who was said to have presidential aspirations.
“Dave McCurdy was very popular,” Inhofe recalled later. “He was probably smarter than I was. He certainly was better looking. My job was to make sure people knew how he voted. We were able to do that, and that taught me a lesson: Always be honest about the other candidate’s record.”
Inhofe was often criticized for running negative campaigns.
But he saw it differently. As he noted once, Oklahomans are conservative, and no one was more conservative than he was — especially a Democrat.
“No matter how moderate or conservative they say they are during the campaign, when they get to Washington, they’re going to vote with the Democrats,” he said.
Many credited Inhofe with maintaining and growing Oklahoma’s military bases even when bases in other states closed or downsized.
I miss having Inhofe in the Senate. I also miss the late Sen. Tom Coburn. *sigh*
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
RIP, sir. He fought for conservative viewpoints, not Progressive-just-slower-with-lower-taxes.
RIP Senator
Pretty soon you can change the name in the headline and run a story about another person who was in the government a really long time and refused to step down when he should have.
What a shame. Inhofe will be missed. He was one of the most important people in Washington, fighting against the deep state and the Global Warming BS almost all on his own for years. He was a rock. An absolute rock.
Sudden illness used to be code for suicide.
He was 89.
May he find comfort in the arms of Angels…