Former Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma died early Tuesday morning at age 89.
He had suffered a stroke on July 4 and passed away five days later, surrounded by his wife and children, Oklahoma City ABC affiliate KOCO-TV reported.
Inhofe, a staunch conservative, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994 and retired in 2023, making him the longest-serving senator in Sooner State history,
“The Republican lawmaker was a fixture in Oklahoma politics for more than 50 years. He ran for public office 51 times, winning 48 of those races,” KOCO reported.
Inhofe, a U.S. Army veteran and former insurance executive, was first elected to the Oklahoma State House of Representatives in 1967 and then the State Senate in 1969, where he served until 1977, according to The New York Times.
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He then was elected three times to be mayor of Tulsa before winning a U.S. House seat in 1986.
While in the U.S. Senate, Inhofe served as chairman or as Republican ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for many years.
We pray for the family of Senator Jim Inhofe — an incredible leader and great man.
May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/aVSsn8Eakc
— Senate Republicans (@SenateGOP) July 9, 2024
Following the death of Sen. John McCain of Arizona in 2018, Inhofe became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Inhofe was an ally to former President Donald Trump, who nominated two people the senator backed to be Environmental Protection Agency administrators, first Scott Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general, and then Pruitt’s deputy Andrew Wheeler, who had served as Inhofe’s chief of staff, the Times reported.
Former Sen Jim Inhofe passed away this morning. He was a devout Christian and family man. He was also devoted to his former staff who he considered his extended family…. pic.twitter.com/c4RpGgozoP
— Andrew Wheeler (@AndrewRWheeler) July 9, 2024
Inhofe did not believe in man-made climate change and in fact wrote a book about it in 2012 titled, “The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future.”
“God’s still up there,” he said regarding climate change, and the “arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.”
Inhofe was an avid pilot and would campaign across Oklahoma flying himself to events.
“In 1991, he and three other pilots flew a Cessna around the world in 18 days to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Wiley Post’s solo circumnavigation. He also claimed 11,000 hours of flying time,” according to the Times.
In his senate farewell speech in November 2022, Inhofe said, “I had the privilege of serving with many great titans for a fairly long period of time — some people thought maybe too long — and I had the privilege of serving with the people that I’ve known very well.”
He shared that one of his rewarding experiences while in the senate was a weekly Christian meeting he would attend with fellow lawmakers originally organized during the Eisenhower administration by evangelist Douglas Coe, who died in 2017.
“It’s scripturally based, Acts 2:42, we get together, eat together, pray together and fellowship together and talk about the precepts of Jesus together,” the senator said.
Inhofe closed, “Finally, I want to say to the people of Oklahoma, I really thank — what you’ve done for me all these years — thank you very much. I love you guys.”
Inhofe is survived by his wife, Kay, three children and 12 grandchildren.
