Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye (Japanese: 井上 建, Hepburn: Inoue Ken, pronounced /iːˈnoʊwɛ/ ē-NOH-weh; September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was a United States Senator from Hawaii from 1963 to 2012. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and he was President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2010 until his death in 2012, making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in U.S. history. Inouye also served as chairman of the U.S.