Looking Back on the Career of Sen. Daniel Inouye

Daniel Inouye may become the first American congressmen of Asian descent when Hawaii votes in its first state election, Tuesday, July 17, 1959. Inouye, a 34 year old Japanese American, is the Democratic candidate for Hawaiis single seat in the House, and Democrats are favored. (AP Photo)

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, and his wife Margaret pose with their son, Daniel Jr., in their suburban Washington home, at Bethesda, Md. on August 31, 1964. The youngster, knicknamed Kenny, was born on July 14, 1964. He's the Inouye's first child. (AP Photo/Bill Allen)

** FILE ** In this Jan. 9, 1963 file photo, Daniel Inouye, left, takes the Oath of office as Democratic Senator from Hawaii from Vice President Lyndon Johnson in a re-enactment of the swearing in ceremony in Washington, D.C. President Johnson urged Hubert Humphrey to consider picking U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye as his vice-presidential running mate in 1968, newly released tapes from the Johnson library reveal. (AP Photo)

Acting Gov. Manuel Guerrero of Guam meets with President John F. Kennedy at the White House, Washington on Feb. 9, 1963. From left: Guerrero, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, Kennedy and Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. (AP Photo/Bill Allen)

Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), left, and Sen. John M. Montoya (D-N.M.) are shown during the Watergate Senate hearings on Capitol Hill, Aug. 2, 1973. (AP Photo)

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), with his glasses around his neck listens to testimony from L. Patrick Gray III, former acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, before questioning Gray before the Senate Watergate committee, Aug. 6, 1973 in Washington. (AP Photo)

House Representative Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, right, sits on the steps of the Capitol with House doorkeeper William "Fishbait" Miller in Washington on August 10, 1959.(AP Photo)

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair, shades his eyes with a sheet of paper as Brendan Sullivan, Lt. Col. North's attorney, speaks during a congressional committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, July 8, 1987. The committee is holding hearings on the Iran-Contra affair. (AP Photo)

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee poses with unidentified members of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, of Minnesota, Sept. 17, 1987 in his Capitol Hill office, Washington. The Indians met with Inouye for a peace pipe ceremony to thank him for introducing legislation honoring their tribe. (AP Photo/Jeff Markowitz)

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, right, is presented a commemorative coin marking the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Medal of Honor by Congress, by Brian Thacker of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Inouye received the Medal of Honor for valor in World War II; Thacker was honored for his actions in Vietnam. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (PHOTO: J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP)

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, president pro temper of the Senate, and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, attends a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, where he is presented a commemorative coin marking the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Medal of Honor by Congress. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)