Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, known for his sharp humor and bipartisan efforts, passed away on Friday, March 14, at the age of 93 in Cody, Wyoming, following difficulties recovering from a hip fracture sustained in December.
The 6-foot-7-inch Wyoming Republican was celebrated by family, colleagues, and former presidents as a towering figure both physically and in the realm of American politics.
“He was an uncommonly generous man,” stated his older brother, Pete Simpson. He consistently offered his time and energy unconditionally, both politically and within his family.
Former President George W. Bush commended Simpson as “one of the finest public servants ever to have graced our nation’s capital.”
Born in Denver, Colorado, on September 2, 1931, Simpson was raised in Cody, Wyoming, where he admitted to engaging in reckless behavior that at times resulted in legal troubles. After completing his education at Cody High School in 1949, he attended the University of Wyoming, participating in both football and basketball.
In 1954, Simpson married Ann Schroll from Greybull, Wyoming, and joined the U.S. Army, serving in the Fifth Infantry Division and the Second Armored “Hell on Wheels” Division in Germany. Last summer, they marked their 70th wedding anniversary with a community ice cream social attended by hundreds.
Once his military service concluded, Simpson obtained his law degree from the University of Wyoming in 1958 and joined his father’s law firm, where he worked for 19 years. His political journey started with his election to the Wyoming House in 1964, leading to his U.S. Senate seat win in 1976.
Simpson’s family had significant political ties in Wyoming. His father, Milward Simpson, served as governor, U.S. senator, and state legislator. His mother, Lorna Kooi Simpson, was president of the Red Cross in Cody and served on the local planning commission.
During his three Senate terms from 1979 to 1997, Simpson was a leading Republican who unified GOP senators around their legislative goals during the Reagan years. He served on the Immigration Subcommittee and Veterans Affairs Committee, among others, and held the position of Senate Republican Whip from 1985 to 1995.
Simpson, known for his straightforwardness, often referred to politics as a “contact sport.”
Simpson was also recognized for his humor and notable sayings. One of his famous observations was: “We have two political parties in this country, the Stupid Party and the Evil Party. I belong to the Stupid Party.”
Viewed as a political moderate by today’s standards, Simpson was fiscally conservative and a self-described deficit hawk but supported abortion rights and diverged from party lines on various issues. This independence contributed to his gradual decline in prominence within the Republican Party.
Simpson maintained cross-party friendships, including with Norman Mineta, transportation secretary under President George W. Bush, and Robert Reich, labor secretary under President Bill Clinton. His friendship with Mineta started when they met as Boy Scouts during World War II while Mineta’s family was interned as Japanese-Americans in the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center near Cody.
Later, both men worked to raise awareness of the incarceration of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry during the war. Mineta, who passed away in 2022, once recounted Simpson being queried about the biggest difference between them as Republican and Democrat. “Alan thought about it and he said, ‘Well, I wear size 15 shoes and he wears a size 8 and a half’.”
After leaving the Senate in 1995, Simpson taught politics and the media at Harvard University and the University of Wyoming. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Simpson as co-chair of a debt-reduction commission that proposed a plan to save $4 trillion through tax increases and spending cuts, though it ultimately lacked sufficient congressional backing.
Simpson also supported criminal justice reform, opposing life sentences without parole for juveniles and advocating for sentence reviews after appropriate intervals.
In 2022, President Biden awarded Simpson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his long and distinguished public service career.
Simpson chose not to seek re-election in 1995, stating, “Part of me said I could do this for another three or four years but not six. The old fire in the belly is out. The edge is off.”
Simpson is survived by his wife, Ann Simpson, his brother Pete, sons Colin and William, and daughter Susan Gallagher.