Alan K. Simpson
Encyclopedia
Alan Kooi Simpson is an American politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator
from Wyoming
as a member of the Republican Party
. His father, Milward L. Simpson
, was also a member of the U.S. Senate from Wyoming (1962–1967) and a former Governor of Wyoming (1955–1959) as well.
Simpson was appointed in 2010 to co-chair President Barack Obama
's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
with co-chair Erskine Bowles
.
. His middle name, "Kooi", comes from his maternal grandfather, whose parents were Dutch immigrants. As a young man, Simpson was a Boy Scout
, and visited Japanese American
Boy Scouts who, along with their families, had been interned near Ralston Wyoming
during World War II
. There, he developed a friendship with Norman Mineta
, who later became a U.S. Congressman and cabinet member. They served together in Congress and on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution
, and remain close friends.
One of Simpson's babysitters as a young boy was the future Lieutenant Governor and Education Superintendent of Louisiana
, William J. "Bill" Dodd, who played baseball for a time as a young man in Cody with teammate Milward Simpson.
Yet, Simpson's youth was clearly not all baseball games and scout jamborees. In a recent brief in support of the claimant in the Supreme Court case, Graham v. Florida, Simpson admitted that as a juvenile he was on federal probation for shooting mailboxes and punched a cop and—in his own words—“was a monster.”
Alan Simpson graduated from Cody High School
in Cody, Wyoming
, in 1949 and attended Cranbrook School
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
, in 1950 for a postgraduate year. He graduated from the University of Wyoming
in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science
degree and in 1958 with a Juris Doctor
degree. In 1954 he married Susan Ann Schroll, who was a fellow student at the University of Wyoming. He served in the United States Army
in Germany
from 1955–1956 with the 10th Infantry Regiment, Fifth Infantry Division and with the 12th Armored Infantry Battalion, Second Armored Division.
He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega
fraternity at the University of Wyoming.
Simpson had several run-ins with the law during his youth. A "friend of the Court" brief filed before the United States Supreme Court in the juvenile imprisonment cases Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida states:
Simpson stated;"I was just dumb and rebellious and stupid. And a different person." And then added;"You're not who are when you're 16 or 18. You're dumb, and you don't care and you think you are eternal."
, Assistant Republican Leader in the Senate, having served with then Republican Leader Bob Dole
of Kansas
. He was chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee
from 1981 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 1997 when Republicans regained control of the Senate. He also chaired the Immigration and Refugee Subcommittee of Judiciary; the Nuclear Regulation Subcommittee; the Social Security Subcommittee and the Committee on Aging. In 1995, he lost the whip's job to Trent Lott
of Mississippi
, and he did not seek reelection to the Senate in 1996. From 1997 to 2000, Simpson taught at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy
at Harvard University
's John F. Kennedy School of Government
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, and served for two years as the Director of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School
.
Simpson returned to his home of Cody and practices law there with his two lawyer sons (William and Colin) in the firm of Simpson, Kepler and Edwards. The three are also partners in the firm of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh and Jardine of Englewood, Colorado
. Colin Simpson, the third generation of his family in Wyoming politics, is a Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives and served as Speaker of the House for the 59th session of the Legislature, 2008 to March 2010. He was a candidate for Governor, finishing fourth in the primary in 2010.
at Laramie
– with his brother Pete. He has completed serving as chairman of the UW capital "Campaign for Distinction", which raised $204 million. That success was celebrated by the gala event, "An Extraordinary Evening", featuring former President George H.W. Bush (who had reportedly considered Simpson for the vice presidency in 1988) and Vice President
Dick Cheney
– another UW alumnus – and his wife Lynne V. Cheney.
Simpson serves on the Commission for Continuity in Government. He also serves as co-chairman of Americans for Campaign Reform with former Senate colleagues Bill Bradley
of New Jersey
, Warren Rudman
of New Hampshire
and Bob Kerrey
of Nebraska
; is active with the National Commission on Writing; is on the Advisory Board of Common Good
(a legal reform coalition); is a former member of the American Battle Monuments Commission
, and was a member of the Iraq Study Group
.
Simpson's father, Milward Simpson
, also served in the Senate and voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964
. Alan Simpson has been an outspoken advocate for access to abortion
stating it is a horrible situation but a deeply intimate and personal decision and should not be a political issue in a party that believes in "government out of our lives" and "the right to be left alone" and "the precious right of privacy". He supports gay and lesbian rights, and equality for all persons regardless of race, color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. In an article in the Washington Post, the former senator wrote an article criticizing the "Don't ask, don't tell
" policy stating "'Gay' is an artificial category that says little about a person. Our differences and prejudices pale next to our historic challenge."
In 2001, Simpson became Honorary Chairman of the Republican Unity Coalition (RUC), a gay/straight alliance within the Republican Party. In this capacity, Simpson personally recruited President Gerald R. Ford to serve on the RUC's Advisory Board.
In 2002, Simpson was involved in the Republican gubernatorial primary on behalf of former Democrat Eli Bebout
of Riverton
. Simpson criticized Bebout's principal challengers Raymond Breedlove Hunkins
of Wheatland
, and Bill Sniffen of Lander in Fremont County. Bebout defeated the two but then lost the general election
to the Democratic nominee David Duane "Dave" Freudenthal
, a former United States Attorney
appointed by President Bill Clinton
.
Simpson is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope
.
In 2006, Simpson was one of ten member (five Democratic and five Republican) contributors to the Iraq Study Group
Report.
Simpson was appointed in 2010 to co-chair President Barack Obama
's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
with co-chair Erskine Bowles
.
reported that 12 U.S. Senators were aliens from other planets, including Simpson. The Associated Press
ran a follow-up piece which confirmed the tongue-in-cheek participation of Senate offices in the story. Then-Senator Simpson's spokesman Charles Pelkey, when asked about Simpson's galactic origins, told the AP: "We've got only one thing to say: Klaatu barada nikto
." This was a reference to the 1951 science fiction classic film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, in which an alien arrives by flying saucer
in Washington, D.C.
Simpson also played himself in a cameo appearance
for the 1993 film Dave
. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0800883/.He authored a book,"Right in the Old Gazoo--a lifetime of scrapping with the Press"-William Morrow and Company,Inc.(1997).
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United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
as a member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. His father, Milward L. Simpson
Milward L. Simpson
Milward Lee Simpson was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming.-Life and career:...
, was also a member of the U.S. Senate from Wyoming (1962–1967) and a former Governor of Wyoming (1955–1959) as well.
Simpson was appointed in 2010 to co-chair President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a Presidential Commission created in 2010 by President Barack Obama to identify "…policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run."...
with co-chair Erskine Bowles
Erskine Bowles
Erskine Boyce Bowles is an American businessman and political figure from North Carolina. He served from 2005 to 2010 as the President of the University of North Carolina system...
.
Early life
Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Lorna (née Kooi) and politician Milward L. SimpsonMilward L. Simpson
Milward Lee Simpson was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming.-Life and career:...
. His middle name, "Kooi", comes from his maternal grandfather, whose parents were Dutch immigrants. As a young man, Simpson was a Boy Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
, and visited Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
Boy Scouts who, along with their families, had been interned near Ralston Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. There, he developed a friendship with Norman Mineta
Norman Mineta
Norman Yoshio Mineta, is a United States politician of the Democratic Party. Mineta most recently served in President George W. Bush's Cabinet as the United States Secretary of Transportation, the only Democratic Cabinet Secretary in the Bush administration...
, who later became a U.S. Congressman and cabinet member. They served together in Congress and on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, and remain close friends.
One of Simpson's babysitters as a young boy was the future Lieutenant Governor and Education Superintendent of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, William J. "Bill" Dodd, who played baseball for a time as a young man in Cody with teammate Milward Simpson.
Yet, Simpson's youth was clearly not all baseball games and scout jamborees. In a recent brief in support of the claimant in the Supreme Court case, Graham v. Florida, Simpson admitted that as a juvenile he was on federal probation for shooting mailboxes and punched a cop and—in his own words—“was a monster.”
Alan Simpson graduated from Cody High School
Cody High School (Wyoming)
Cody High School is a school in Cody, Wyoming. It is part of Park County School District #6. Cody has a population of about 9,000 people and the school has approximately 700 students. The school mascots are the broncs and fillies, and the colors are blue and gold...
in Cody, Wyoming
Cody, Wyoming
Cody is a city in Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after William Frederick Cody, primarily known as Buffalo Bill, from William Cody's part in the creation of the original town. The population was 9,520 at the 2010 census...
, in 1949 and attended Cranbrook School
Cranbrook Schools
Cranbrook Schools is a private, PK–12 school located on a campus in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The schools comprise a co-educational elementary school, a middle school with separate schools for boys and girls, and a co-educational high school with boarding facilities...
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan, northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,869...
, in 1950 for a postgraduate year. He graduated from the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree and in 1958 with a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree. In 1954 he married Susan Ann Schroll, who was a fellow student at the University of Wyoming. He served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
from 1955–1956 with the 10th Infantry Regiment, Fifth Infantry Division and with the 12th Armored Infantry Battalion, Second Armored Division.
He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega is a secret American leadership and social fraternity.The Fraternity has more than 250 active and inactive chapters, more than 200,000 initiates, and over 7,000 active undergraduate members. The 200,000th member was initiated in early 2009...
fraternity at the University of Wyoming.
Run-ins with the law
Simpson had several run-ins with the law during his youth. A "friend of the Court" brief filed before the United States Supreme Court in the juvenile imprisonment cases Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida states:
Simpson stated;"I was just dumb and rebellious and stupid. And a different person." And then added;"You're not who are when you're 16 or 18. You're dumb, and you don't care and you think you are eternal."
Wyoming House of Representatives
Simpson served more than a decade in the Wyoming House of Representatives, from 1964 to 1977.U.S. Senate
Simpson was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 7, 1978, but was appointed to the post early on January 1, 1979, following the resignation of Clifford P. Hansen. From 1985 to 1995, Simpson was the Republican whipWhip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
, Assistant Republican Leader in the Senate, having served with then Republican Leader Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. He was chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee
United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
The United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs deals with oversight of United States veterans issues.-Members, 112th Congress:The Committee is chaired by Democrat Patty Murray of Washington, and the Ranking Member is Republican Richard Burr of North Carolina.Source: -Chairmen of the Senate...
from 1981 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 1997 when Republicans regained control of the Senate. He also chaired the Immigration and Refugee Subcommittee of Judiciary; the Nuclear Regulation Subcommittee; the Social Security Subcommittee and the Committee on Aging. In 1995, he lost the whip's job to Trent Lott
Trent Lott
Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, and he did not seek reelection to the Senate in 1996. From 1997 to 2000, Simpson taught at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy
Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy
The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, named after Joan Shorenstein, explores the intersection of press, politics and public policy in theory and practice, striving to bridge the gap between journalists and scholars, and between them and the...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, and served for two years as the Director of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School
Kennedy School
The Kennedy School is a former elementary school that has been converted to a hotel, movie theater and dining establishment in northeast Portland, Oregon. The facility is operated by the McMenamins chain.-External links:*...
.
Simpson returned to his home of Cody and practices law there with his two lawyer sons (William and Colin) in the firm of Simpson, Kepler and Edwards. The three are also partners in the firm of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh and Jardine of Englewood, Colorado
Englewood, Colorado
The city of Englewood is a Home Rule Municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. As of 2007, the city is estimated to have a total population of 32,532. Englewood is part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. Englewood is located in the South Platte River Valley east of the...
. Colin Simpson, the third generation of his family in Wyoming politics, is a Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives and served as Speaker of the House for the 59th session of the Legislature, 2008 to March 2010. He was a candidate for Governor, finishing fourth in the primary in 2010.
After Congressional service
Alan Simpson teaches periodically at his alma mater – the University of WyomingUniversity of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
at Laramie
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
– with his brother Pete. He has completed serving as chairman of the UW capital "Campaign for Distinction", which raised $204 million. That success was celebrated by the gala event, "An Extraordinary Evening", featuring former President George H.W. Bush (who had reportedly considered Simpson for the vice presidency in 1988) and Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
– another UW alumnus – and his wife Lynne V. Cheney.
Simpson serves on the Commission for Continuity in Government. He also serves as co-chairman of Americans for Campaign Reform with former Senate colleagues Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Warren Rudman
Warren Rudman
Warren Bruce Rudman is an American attorney and Republican politician who served as United States Senator from New Hampshire between 1980 and 1993...
of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and Bob Kerrey
Bob Kerrey
Joseph Robert "Bob" Kerrey was the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and a U.S. Senator from Nebraska . Having served in the Vietnam War, earning the Medal of Honor for his actions, he moved into politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992...
of Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
; is active with the National Commission on Writing; is on the Advisory Board of Common Good
Common Good
Common Good is a nonprofit organization in the United States that advocates a basic shift in legal structures "to restore common sense to American law." In June 2008, the organization, founded in 2002 by Philip K...
(a legal reform coalition); is a former member of the American Battle Monuments Commission
American Battle Monuments Commission
The American Battle Monuments Commission is a small independent agency of the United States government. Established by Congress in 1923, it is responsible for:...
, and was a member of the Iraq Study Group
Iraq Study Group
The Iraq Study group , was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations...
.
Simpson's father, Milward Simpson
Milward L. Simpson
Milward Lee Simpson was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming.-Life and career:...
, also served in the Senate and voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
. Alan Simpson has been an outspoken advocate for access to abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
stating it is a horrible situation but a deeply intimate and personal decision and should not be a political issue in a party that believes in "government out of our lives" and "the right to be left alone" and "the precious right of privacy". He supports gay and lesbian rights, and equality for all persons regardless of race, color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. In an article in the Washington Post, the former senator wrote an article criticizing the "Don't ask, don't tell
Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
" policy stating "'Gay' is an artificial category that says little about a person. Our differences and prejudices pale next to our historic challenge."
In 2001, Simpson became Honorary Chairman of the Republican Unity Coalition (RUC), a gay/straight alliance within the Republican Party. In this capacity, Simpson personally recruited President Gerald R. Ford to serve on the RUC's Advisory Board.
In 2002, Simpson was involved in the Republican gubernatorial primary on behalf of former Democrat Eli Bebout
Eli Bebout
Eli Daniel Bebout is a veteran Wyoming politician and a member of the Wyoming State Senate. He represents District 26 from Riverton, the seat of Fremont County in the central portion of his state. A Republican, Bebout is a former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives, Speaker of the...
of Riverton
Riverton, Wyoming
Riverton is a city in Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. It is both the largest city in the county and the largest within the historical boundaries of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The city's population was 9,310 at the 2000 census...
. Simpson criticized Bebout's principal challengers Raymond Breedlove Hunkins
Ray Hunkins
Raymond Breedlove "Ray" Hunkins is an attorney, rancher, former law enforcement officer, United States Marine Corps veteran, and the Republican nominee for Governor of Wyoming in the general election held on November 7, 2006...
of Wheatland
Wheatland, Wyoming
Wheatland is a town in and the county seat of Platte County in southeastern Wyoming, United States. The population was 3,548 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wheatland is located at ....
, and Bill Sniffen of Lander in Fremont County. Bebout defeated the two but then lost the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
to the Democratic nominee David Duane "Dave" Freudenthal
Dave Freudenthal
David Duane "Dave" Freudenthal , is an American politician who served as the 31st Governor of Wyoming. A Democrat, he was reelected to his second term on November 7, 2006, and announced on March 4, 2010, that he would not attempt to seek a third term as Governor.-Education and early...
, a former United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
appointed by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
.
Simpson is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian organization Wings of Hope
Wings of Hope (charity)
Founded in 1962, Wings of Hope is the oldest and largest volunteer, humanitarian, aviation based charity in the world. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, they organize and maintain over 3,000 volunteers in 154 bases in 45 countries. Wings of Hope is strictly humanitarian, meaning they have no...
.
In 2006, Simpson was one of ten member (five Democratic and five Republican) contributors to the Iraq Study Group
Iraq Study Group
The Iraq Study group , was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations...
Report.
Simpson was appointed in 2010 to co-chair President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a Presidential Commission created in 2010 by President Barack Obama to identify "…policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run."...
with co-chair Erskine Bowles
Erskine Bowles
Erskine Boyce Bowles is an American businessman and political figure from North Carolina. He served from 2005 to 2010 as the President of the University of North Carolina system...
.
In popular culture
The June 7, 1994, edition of the now-defunct supermarket tabloid Weekly World NewsWeekly World News
The Weekly World News was a supermarket tabloid published in the United States from 1979 to 2007, renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes and an approach to news that verged on the satirical. Its characteristic black-and-white covers have become...
reported that 12 U.S. Senators were aliens from other planets, including Simpson. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
ran a follow-up piece which confirmed the tongue-in-cheek participation of Senate offices in the story. Then-Senator Simpson's spokesman Charles Pelkey, when asked about Simpson's galactic origins, told the AP: "We've got only one thing to say: Klaatu barada nikto
Klaatu barada nikto
"Klaatu barada nikto" is a phrase originating from the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. "Klaatu" is the name of the humanoid alien protagonist in the film. Klaatu commanded Helen Benson that, were anything to happen to him, she must utter the phrase to the robot Gort...
." This was a reference to the 1951 science fiction classic film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, in which an alien arrives by flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Simpson also played himself in a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
for the 1993 film Dave
Dave (film)
Dave is a 1993 comedy-drama film written by Gary Ross, directed by Ivan Reitman, and starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. Co-stars include Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, and Ben Kingsley. Ross was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay...
. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0800883/.He authored a book,"Right in the Old Gazoo--a lifetime of scrapping with the Press"-William Morrow and Company,Inc.(1997).
Works
- Right in the Old Gazoo: A Lifetime of Scrapping with the Press (William Morrow & Company, 1997, ISBN 0-688-11358-3)
External links
- Inventory of the Alan K. Simpson papers, 1911-2008 at the University of WyomingUniversity of WyomingThe University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
- Appearances on Charlie RoseCharlie RoseCharles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993...
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