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Sakishima Islands

The Sakishima Islands (先島諸島) (or 先島群島, Sakishima-guntō) (Okinawan: Sachishima, Miyako: Saksїzїma, Yaeyama: Sakїzїma, Yonaguni: Satichima) are an archipelago located at the southernmost end of the Japanese Archipelago. They are part of the Ryukyu Islands and include the Miyako Islands and the Yaeyama Islands. The islands are administered as part of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

Inhabited islands
Sakishima Islands
 * Miyako Islands (former Miyako Subprefecture)
 * Flag of Miyakojima, Okinawa.svg Miyakojima City
 * Ikema Island (Ikema-jima)
 * Irabu Island (Irabu-jima)
 * Kurima Island (Kurima-jima)
 * Miyako Island (Miyako-jima)
 * Ōgami Island (Ōgami-jima)
 * Shimoji Island (Shimoji-shima)
 * Flag of Tarama, Okinawa.svg Tarama Village
 * Tarama Island (Tarama-jima)
 * Minna Island (Minna-jima)
 * Yaeyama Islands (former Yaeyama Subprefecture)
 * Flag of Ishigaki, Okinawa.svg Ishigaki City
 * Ishigaki Island (Ishigaki-jima)
 * Flag of Taketomi, Okinawa.svg Taketomi Town
 * Aragusuku Island (Aragusuku-jima)
 * Hateruma Island (Hateruma-jima)
 * Iriomote Island (Iriomote-jima)
 * Kohama Island (Kohama-jima)
 * Kuroshima Island (Kuroshima)
 * Taketomi Island (Taketomi-jima)
 * Yubu Island (Yubu-jima)
 * Flag of Yonaguni, Okinawa.svg Yonaguni Town
 * Yonaguni Island (Yonaguni-jima)

History
The Sakishima Islands were first documented in the Shoku Nihongi (797), which says that in 714 Ō no Ason Okeji (太朝臣遠建治) paid tribute to Dazaifu with 52 islanders from Amami (奄美), Shigaki (信覚), Kumi (球美) and other islands. Shigaki is believed to be the current Ishigaki (石垣), Kumi to be the current Kume (久米) or Komi (古見) settlement of Iriomote. The History of Yuan (1370) documented a castaway from Mìyágǔ (密牙古) arrived to Wenzhou in 1317. This is believed to be the first documentation of Miyako (宮古).

Stone tools and shell tools from 2,500 years ago have been excavated from shell mounds on the Sakishima Islands. Shell tools of the same era are also found in Taiwan and the Philippines, but not on Okinawa Island or Amami. Thus those islands are thought to have had a stronger or closer cultural relationship with Taiwan, the Philippines, and other regions which are Austronesian-speaking.

Local earthenware was made beginning in the 11th century. Many local leaders, known as aji, appeared in the 15th century. At the same time, the political authorities on Okinawa saw the outlying islands as useful stopping points along a maritime trade route, and gradually enhanced their influence. Yohanashiidu Tuyumya (与那覇勢頭豊見親) unified Miyako in 1365, and paid tribute to Satto, the king of the Chūzan kingdom of Okinawa.

Ryukyuan control
In 1500, Oyake Akahachi (遠弥計赤蜂 or 於屋計赤蜂), Aji of Ishigaki, unified most of the Yaeyama Islands and rose up in resistance against the Ryukyu Kingdom by refusing to pay further tribute. As he was planning to invade Miyako, Nakasone Tuyumya (仲宗根豊見親), Aji of Miyako, discovered the plan and launched a preemptive invasion of the Yaeyama Islands. Oyake Akahachi was defeated at Furusutobaru Castle, and Nakasone Tuyumya went on to conquer Yonaguni. King Shō Shin of Ryukyu responded to the initial rebellion by sending troops, but they arrived at Miyako after most of the fighting had ended. The Ryukyuan army consisted of 3,000 soldiers and 100 ships; Nakasone Tuyumya chose to surrender instead of fighting, handing over all of the Sakishima Islands to Ryukyu.

The Shimazu clan of the Japanese feudal domain of Satsuma invaded the kingdom during the 1609 Invasion of Ryukyu. Satsuma was able to capture Shuri Castle and King Shō Nei by early May, then sent a message to the Sakishima Islands demanding their surrender, which they complied with. In the following centuries of vassalage to Satsuma, the Ryukyuan government was placed under extreme tax pressure, and instituted a heavy poll tax in the Sakishima Islands. As a result of the extreme economic conditions, infanticide and other methods of population control became common, as they did throughout the Ryukyu Islands; remains of the sites where this took place can still be found throughout the Sakishima Islands. Yaeyama islanders were taxed even more heavily than those of Miyako, as the rebel Oyake Akahachi was from Yaeyama. The kingdom prohibited migration of islanders, isolating them to prevent group resistance. The Yaeyama earthquake in 1771 caused a tsunami which killed 12,000, or a half of the entire Sakishima population. Because the soil was adversely affected by salination, famines were frequent, and the population of the islands further decreased until the early Meiji period.

Japanese control
After the Meiji Restoration, in 1872, the Japanese government unilaterally declared that the Ryukyu Kingdom was then Ryukyu Domain and began incorporating the islands as a part of Japan. In 1879, after the Ryukyuan government resisted and disobeyed orders from Tokyo, Japan abolished the domain, deposed the king, and established Okinawa Prefecture. The Qing dynasty of China, however, opposed the action, claiming sovereignty over the former kingdom. Japan proposed to cede the Sakishima Islands, provided China add "most favored nation" status of Japan to the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Amity. China agreed at first, but after objections from Viceroy Li Hongzhang, the agreement was not made. China effectively conceded its claims to sovereignty over Ryukyu, including the Sakishima Islands, following its defeat by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95.

The modernization of Sakishima by the Japanese government was slow compared with Japan or even Okinawa. The heavy poll tax continued until as late as 1903. Meanwhile, the islands, as well as Taiwan, used Western Standard Time (UTC+8) until 1937, 1 hour behind the Central Standard Time of Japan (UTC+9).

During World War II, there was an air battle waged against the Sakishima Islands' two largest islands that lasted for 82 days in order to neutralize Kamikaze airfields. Twenty-five US escort carriers, five larger fast carriers with their air groups consisting of fighters and torpedo bombers along with heavy naval patrol bombers and an assortment of DD-Destroyers and DE-Destroyer Escorts along with the British Pacific Fleet bombed, rocketed and fired their guns at runways and other targets daily while the land battle raged on Okinawa 175 miles away. This was the least publicized battle for its size that took place involving the Americans and British during the war. The thirty-two thousand seasoned Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and Naval (IJN) troops on Miyako did not surrender until 27 days after Japan formally surrendered. The amount of ordnance expended against the Sakishima Islands may have exceeded the ordnance spent on the island of Iwo Jima. The Sakishima Islands did not suffer a ground invasion during World War II, although a great deal of anti-submarine warfare and convoy battles took place in the waters immediately surrounding the archipelago in the years leading up to the Okinawa campaign. A number of American and Japanese submarines were lost on the approaches to these islands as they formed a vital outlying defense to the Empire's shipping bottlenecks in the Formosa (Taiwan) and Luzon Straits.

In June 1945, the Japanese government ordered locals to evacuate to northern Ishigaki and Iriomote, where 3,647 of them lost their lives to malaria. In contrast, air raids killed much fewer: 174. After the Imperial Japanese Army was defeated on Okinawa later that month, there was a vacuum of military and government control in the Sakishima Islands. Some garrison troops robbed crops from farms or engaged in violence against locals. To counter them, the residents of Ishigaki formed the Yaeyama Community Association (八重山自治会). Since it acted as a temporary local government, some historians later described the association as the Yaeyama Republic (八重山共和国).

American control
United States Occupation authorities declared the establishment of military rule in December 1945, restoring Miyako Subprefecture and Yaeyama Subprefecture. The local association ceased operation. In 1952, the Treaty of San Francisco confirmed these islands to be under American control. Malaria was eradicated from the island in 1961. The islands were returned to Japan in 1972, along with the rest of Okinawa Prefecture.

Today
Today the Sakishima Islands enjoy a thriving tourist industry. As part of the Sakishima Islands are the Senkaku Islands, which fall under Okinawa Prefecture and Ishigaki City politically. The Japanese Self Defense Force and Japan Coast Guard maintain a large presence in the Sakishima Islands.

Culture
There are three native languages on the islands; Miyako language on the Miyako Islands, Yonaguni language on Yonaguni, and Yaeyama language on the other Yaeyama Islands. All these languages belong to the Southern Ryukyuan branch of the Ryukyuan languages group, which in turn belong to the Japonic languages group. These languages are not mutually intelligible. As on Okinawa, therefore, standard Japanese language is used in formal situations, while Okinawan Japanese, that is, standard Japanese with native Ryukyuan words, pronunciation changes, etc. mixed in, is quite commonly used as well.

title: Sakishima Islands


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Chen Wu (Han dynasty)

Chen Wu (c. 177 - 215), courtesy name Zilie, was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He previously served under Sun Ce, Sun Quan's elder brother and predecessor.

Life
Chen Wu was from Songzi County (松滋縣), Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡), which is in present-day Susong County, Anhui. He was seven chi and seven cun tall (approximately 181–186 cm). When he was about 17 years old, he travelled to Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui) to meet Sun Ce, who was then a subordinate of the warlord Yuan Shu. Chen Wu later accompanied Sun Ce on his conquests in the Jiangdong region in the 190s, and was appointed as a Major of Separate Command (別部司馬) for his contributions in battle. He also followed Sun Ce to attack a minor warlord Liu Xun and helped to recruit many capable men from Lujiang to join Sun Ce's army, with him as their commander.

After Sun Ce's death in the year 200, Chen Wu continued serving under Sun Quan, Sun Ce's younger brother and successor. He was put in command of five regiments. Chen Wu was known to a kind and generous person, and he won the hearts of many people from his hometown and other places. He was deeply favoured by Sun Quan, who visited his house on several occasions. Chen Wu was later promoted to Lieutenant-General (偏將軍) for his achievements.

In 215, Chen Wu followed Sun Quan to attack Hefei, a city under the control of a rival warlord Cao Cao, which led to the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford. Sun Quan's forces suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Cao Cao's general Zhang Liao, who was defending Hefei. Chen Wu was killed in action.

Sun Quan mourned Chen Wu's death and attended the latter's funeral. Sun Quan also had Chen Wu's favourite concubine sacrificed to join Chen in death, and he awarded Chen's family 200 taxable households in their estate. The historian Sun Sheng criticised Sun Quan's act of forcing Chen Wu's concubine to join Chen in death, citing an earlier negative example of Duke Mu of Qin and a positive example of Wei Ke (魏顆).

Descendants
Chen Wu had two sons – Chen Xiu (陳脩) and Chen Biao.

Chen Xiu had a personality which resembled his father's. When he was 19 years old, Sun Quan summoned him and appointed him as a Major of Separate Command (別部司馬) and put him in charge of 500 troops. At the time, many newly recruited soldiers were unwilling to serve in the army so they deserted. However, Chen Xiu treated his men well and not a single soldier under him deserted. Sun Quan was surprised and pleased, so he promoted Chen Xiu to Colonel (校尉). In the late 210s, when Sun Quan granted awards to the descendants of his deceased subjects to honour his subjects for their service, Chen Xiu received the title of a Marquis of a Chief Village (都亭侯) in recognition of his father's contributions. He later became a commander in the jiefan (解煩) corps, one of the elite units in Sun Quan's military forces. He died in 229, shortly after Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor and established the state of Eastern Wu.

Chen Biao was born to one of Chen Wu's concubines. He also served in Eastern Wu. After Chen Biao's death, his son Chen Ao (陳敖) was commissioned as a Major of Separate Command (別部司馬) at the age of 16 and was placed in charge of 400 troops.

When Chen Ao died, his military appointment was inherited by his cousin Chen Yan (陳延), who was Chen Xiu's son. Chen Yan had a younger brother, Chen Yong (陳延), who became a general and received a marquis title.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Although no details were given on how Chen Wu died at the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford in 215, his death was dramatised in chapter 68 of the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, which romanticises the historical events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. In the novel, Chen Wu encountered Pang De (who had recently joined Cao Cao's forces) in another battle right after the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford. While fighting with Pang De, he was driven into a valley full of thick vegetation and his sleeve was caught in some tree branches. He was killed by Pang De while attempting to free himself.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Chen Wu (Han dynasty)


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Jim Inhofe

James Mountain Inhofe (November 17, 1934 – July 9, 2024) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Oklahoma from 1994 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was the longest serving U.S. senator from Oklahoma. He served in various elected offices in the state of Oklahoma for nearly sixty years, between 1966 and 2023.

Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1934, Inhofe moved with his parents to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1942. His father, Perry Inhofe, was an owner of insurance companies and his mother, Blanche Inhofe (née Mountain), was a Tulsa socialite. Jim was a high school track star and graduated from Central High School. He went on to briefly attend the University of Colorado before finishing his college degree at the University of Tulsa. He was drafted to the United States Army in 1956 and served between 1957 and 1958. He became vice-president of his father's insurance company in 1961 and president after his father's death in 1970.

Inhofe was an elected official representing the Tulsa area for nearly three decades. He represented parts of Tulsa in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1966 to 1969 and the Oklahoma Senate from 1969 to 1977. During his time in the state legislature he was known for feuding with the Democratic Party's state leadership, particularly Governor David Hall and state treasurer Leo Winters, and spearheading the movement to bring the USS Batfish to Oklahoma. While a state senator, he unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Oklahoma in the 1974 election and the U.S. House in 1976. He was elected to three terms as the Mayor of Tulsa, serving between 1978 and 1984. He served in the United States House of Representatives representing OK's 1st congressional district from 1987 to 1994; he resigned after his election to the United States Senate.

Inhofe chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2017. Inhofe served as acting chairman of the Armed Services Committee between December 2017 and September 6, 2018, while John McCain fought cancer. After McCain's death, he became chairman and served until February 3, 2021. From February 3, 2021, to January 3, 2023, he served as Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. During his Senate career he was known for his rejection of climate science, his support of constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage, and the Inhofe Amendment to make English the national language of the United States.

Family, early life, and education
James Mountain Inhofe was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on November 17, 1934, the son of Blanche (née Mountain) and Perry Dyson Inhofe. He moved with his family to Tulsa, Oklahoma, after his father became president of the National Mutual Casualty company in August 1942. His father, Perry Inhofe, was educated at Duke University and worked as a lawyer, president of multiple insurance companies, and banker. In 1949 his company, Tri-State, was ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to cease discouraging union membership. His father was also active in the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce and YMCA; and he was the official sponsor of Miss Tulsa and Miss Oklahoma winner Louise O'Brien in 1950. His mother was a Tulsa socialite and hosted guests such as Johnston Murray.

Inhofe's family had been involved in Oklahoma politics since the 1950's. His father, Perry Inhofe, had served on the executive committee for Democratic Governor Raymond D. Gary's successful 1954 campaign. In 1958, his brother, Perry Jr., ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Oklahoma House of Representatives as a Democrat.

Education, military and business careers
Inhofe started kindergarten in Des Moines, Iowa, but moved halfway through the year to Hazel Dell in Springfield, Illinois. He skipped first grade after the schoolhouse burned down and started second grade after his family moved to Tulsa at Barnard Elementary School. As a teenager, he would "hire Indians to pick wild blackberries" and then sell them in his neighborhood. He went on to attend Woodrow Wilson Junior High and Tulsa Central High School, where he was a member of his high school's track team. In 1952, his mile relay quartet team broke a school record with a 3:32.6 time. In January 1953, he was elected treasurer of the Brones social club; he graduated from Central High School later that year. He attended the University of Colorado for three months and worked as a bartender.

In 1956, he received a draft letter from the United States Army and he served from 1957 to 1958. He attained the rank of Specialist 4 and spent most of his service performing quartermaster duties at Fort Lee, Virginia. In 1961, his father formed a new life insurance company, Quaker Insurance, and Inhofe was appointed vice president. On June 17, 1970, Perry Inhofe died of a heart attack; Inhofe became president of Quaker Life Insurance and vice president of Mid-Continental Casualty Co. and Oklahoma Surety Co., while his brother Perry Jr. became president of Mid-Continental and Surety and vice president of Quaker Life.

College graduation scandal
Inhofe received a B.A. in economics from the University of Tulsa in 1973. Until his 1994 campaign for the U.S. Senate, his official biographies and news articles about him indicated that he had graduated in 1959. Inhofe initially denied the stories that uncovered the discrepancy, but later acknowledged them. After admitting that the stories were true, Inhofe explained that he had been allowed to take part in graduation ceremonies in 1959 though he was a few credits short of completing his degree, and did not finish his coursework until 1973.

Oklahoma House of Representatives
In February 1966, Inhofe launched his first campaign for office as a Republican; he ran for the Oklahoma House of Representatives's 71st district against incumbent Representative Warren Green. He lost the May primary election and then worked on J. Robert Wooten's 1966 lieutenant gubernatorial campaign as the Tulsa County campaign chair. In November 1966, Joe McGraw resigned from the Oklahoma House of Representatives 70th district to run for newly elected governor Dewey Bartlett's former state senate seat, triggering a special election. Inhofe was the first to announced his campaign for McGraw's former house seat. He won the Republican primary and the general election. He was sworn in December 29, 1966. During his time in the State House, Inhofe formed a close friendship with Democratic Representative David Boren.

In the Oklahoma House, Inhofe's first successful measure was a bill to allow for personalized license plates in Oklahoma that passed during his first legislative session. During his first term, he spoke against federal regulation at the United States House Committee on Public Works Sub-committee on Roads and voted in favor of an abortion liberalization law. In 1968, he served as the vice-chair of the rules committee for the Oklahoma Republican Party state convention. That May, he announced he would not seek re-election to the Oklahoma House of Representatives and instead would challenge Democrat state senator Beauchamp Selman for his seat in the next election.

Election, first term, and USS Batfish
After Inhofe had already announced his campaign for the Oklahoma Senate, Beauchamp Selman announced he would not seek re-election, creating an open seat for the 1968 election. He faced Madison J. Bowers, who was endorsed by the Political Action Committee of Educators, in the Republican primary election. He won the primary and faced Democratic nominee Jerry L. Goodman in the general election. Governor Dewey Bartlett knocked doors with Inhofe during his campaign and he later won the general election. After winning the special election, Republican party officials began considering Inhofe as a potential future U.S. Senate candidate.

In 1969, he was the chairman of the Tulsa County Republican Convention and he supported efforts to liberalize abortions laws in Oklahoma in the 32nd Oklahoma Legislature that passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives, but they failed in Senate committee. Republican party officials tried to recruit Inhofe to run for Treasurer of Oklahoma in 1970, but he declined to run. In 1970, Governor Dewey Bartlett created the Oklahoma Narcotics and Drug Abuse Council and appointed Inhofe as an inaugural member. That November, he was elected minority caucus chair of the Oklahoma Senate for the 33rd Oklahoma Legislature. In 1971, Inhofe served as the chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party's State Convention. While Inhofe had initially filed a resolution for Oklahoma to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, he retracted his support later that year.

In 1969, Inhofe sponsored a successful bill to bring a retired U.S. Navy submarine to Oklahoma. Inhofe initially wanted the USS Piranha for Tulsa, but it was determined that the Arkansas River was too shallow for the ship to travel that far upriver. The Muskogee City-County Trust Port Authority donated five acres of waterfront property to locate the ship in Muskogee. In September 1970, the USS Batfish was considered as an alternative and on December 9, 1971, the Batfish was given to the State of Oklahoma. The ship was unofficially opened to the public July 4, 1972, with its official opening on Memorial Day 1973.

1972 campaigning and second term
In 1972, Inhofe was appointed to serve as co-chair for Richard Nixon's 1972 presidential campaign in Oklahoma with Ralph G. Thompson. During the campaign, Inhofe solicited Barry Goldwater to write a letter of endorsement for Nixon's campaign in Oklahoma to win over conservative Republicans and he represented Oklahoma at the 1972 Republican National Convention. He also worked on U.S. Senator Dewey Bartlett's campaign as the co-chair for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district. In his own district, Inhofe faced no Republican primary challenge and faced Democratic nominee Happy Miles in the general election. He won the general election by over 7,000 votes; afterward, he was elected by fellow Republican state senators to serve as the assistant floor leader in the 34th Oklahoma Legislature. He was elected minority leader of the Oklahoma Senate for the 35th Oklahoma Legislature to succeed Donald Ferrell who had lost re-election. In April 1975, he appointed the first blind page in Oklahoma history: 15 year-old Angela Keele. Later that year, Inhofe and Charles Ford wrote an article criticizing David Boren and spending by the Democratic Party in a party newspaper. Newspapers in the state responded by pointing out Inhofe had supported just as much spending; the article was syndicated by the Associated Press and Inhofe responded by publishing a Tulsa World op-ed arguing he had tried to amend bills to remove wasteful spending and was consistently critical of spending. He did not seek a third term to the Oklahoma Legislature and was succeeded as minority leader by Senator Stephen Wolfe.

1974 gubernatorial election

Inhofe had been floated as a potential gubernatorial candidate since 1972. Inhofe was considered a strong Republican candidate with his only weaknesses being his feuding with Leo Winters and the backlash to the USS Batfish project. By May 1973, he was openly campaigning, but had yet to officially announce his campaign. In October of that year, he was polling behind Denzil Garrison in the Republican primary 35% to 65%. Inhofe officially launched his campaign in May 1974. The main issue in both the Republican and Democratic primary campaigns was corruption during the term of incumbent Democratic Governor David Hall. Inhofe defeated Garrison in the August primary. During the campaign, he lost 57 pounds and was down to 148 pounds.

In a 2011 interview, Inhofe claimed that he and David Boren were both upset with Hall, so the pair decided to both campaign against him; Boren would primary him as a Democrat to weaken his campaign and Inhofe would run as the Republican challenger and defeat him. However, the plan was thrown off when Boren won the Democratic nomination. In October, then-President Gerald Ford visited Oklahoma to campaign for Inhofe. A poll later that month by The Daily Oklahoman showed Boren leading Inhofe 74%–25%. Inhofe ended up losing to Boren by 64%–36%.

1976 congressional election
In 1976, State Senator Frank Keating announced his campaign for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district and announced that Inhofe would be the master of ceremonies at his campaign launch announcement; however, Inhofe did not appear at Keating's announcement and instead announced he was considering his own campaign. Inhofe officially announced his candidacy on February 19, 1976. In the Republican primary, he defeated Keating and Tulsa Public Schools board member Mary Warner, 67%–25%–8%. In a 2011 interview, he credited his primary win to the use of the "Kasten Plan", a system of precinct organization. He also criticized Democratic presidential candidate, and U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, Fred Harris during his presidential primary campaign.

During the primary, Inhofe had called for Democratic incumbent James R. Jones to be expelled from Congress for his conviction while in office for failing to report campaign contributions. Inhofe also criticized a donation Jones had received from Ross Perot, but he retracted his accusation that the donation affected Jones's voting record after threats from Perot and his lawyers. Inhofe was endorsed by the American Conservative Union and National Conservative Political Action Committee during the general election. Former California governor, and future president, Ronald Reagan endorsed and campaigned with Inhofe. He was also endorsed by President Gerald Ford, U.S. Representative John Rousselot of California, and the Tulsa Tribune. Polling before the election showed Jones leading Inhofe, 44% to 36%. In the general election, Jones won by 54%–45%.

Mayor of Tulsa

In January 1978, the Tulsa Daily World reported Republican party officials were courting Inhofe to run for Mayor of Tulsa. He initially denied he would run for any city office and instead insisted he was considering a rematch against Congressman Jones; but, Inhofe announced his mayor campaign in February. He won the Republican primary with over 92% of the vote, defeating Keith Robinson and Paul Cull. During the first three weeks of the primary, he was injured with a broken leg from a tennis injury and could not campaign. In the general election against Rodger Randle, he was endorsed by then-Mayor Robert LaFortune and U.S. Senator Dewey Bartlett. Randle had won the Democratic primary with a coalition of labor union and black voters; and Inhofe was supported in the general by his Republican base, anti-union and anti-black Democrats, and 22% of black voters. In April, he was elected mayor of Tulsa, defeating Democrat Rodger Randle, 51%–46%. The Tulsa Daily World heralded the race as Inhofe's "first general election victory in six years, and Randle's first election loss since he entered politics in 1970." The race broke then-fundraising records for a Tulsa mayoral election with Randle raising $78,062 and Inhofe raising $48,987. Inhofe's biggest donors were the Metropolitan Builder's Association, oilman Robert L. Parker, and Paul D. Hinch.

On May 2, he was sworn in as Mayor of Tulsa. Inhofe's first proclamation as mayor was to celebrate Sun Day and support alternative energy; in the proclamation he said, "I think we're all interested in looking for alternative sources of energy. And of course, we want clean sources." In his first month in office, he decried the city's reliance on federal funding, promised to "seek minorities to fill positions in city government, and nominated Jewish, senior citizen, anti-abortion, and Christian fundamentalist members to the Tulsa Human Rights Commission. In January 1979, Inhofe attended the first swearing in of a Governor of Oklahoma to occur in Tulsa when George Nigh was sworn in to serve the last five days of David Boren's term after Boren was elected to the U.S. Senate. In February, he appointed Ronald L. Young, the first African-American to ever serve on the City Commission. In December 1979, Inhofe officially announced his re-election campaign for a second term as mayor. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary and later won the general election, fending off Democratic nominee Richard Johnson and Independent candidate Robert Murphy. He broke Rodger Randle's record fundraising for a Tulsa mayoral race set in the last election by raising $87,667.

In 1982 he was reelected with 59% of the vote. He lost his 1984 re-election campaign to Terry Young.

Elections
In 1986, when Representative James R. Jones decided to retire to run for the U.S. Senate, Inhofe ran for the 1st District and won the Republican primary with 54%. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Gary Allison 55%–43%. In 1988 he won reelection against Democrat Kurt Glassco 53%–47%. In 1990 he defeated Glassco again, 56%–44%. After redistricting, the 1st District contained only two counties, all of Tulsa and some parts of Wagoner. In 1992, Inhofe was reelected with 53% of the vote.

Tenure
In 1987 Inhofe voted against President Ronald Reagan's budget, which included tax increases and no increase in defense spending.

He first came to national attention in 1993, when he led the effort to reform the House's discharge petition rule, which the House leadership had long used to bottle up bills in committee.

U.S. Senate

Inhofe was the longest serving U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, having served between 1994 and 2023.

Elections
In 1994, incumbent Senator David Boren, who had been serving in the Senate since 1979, agreed to become president of the University of Oklahoma and announced he would resign as soon as a successor was elected. Inhofe was elected Boren's successor in an election cycle that saw the Republican Party take both houses of the U.S. Congress and the Oklahoma governorship. Inhofe took office on November 17, giving him more seniority than the incoming class of senators. After serving the last two years of Boren's term, he won his first full term in 1996. He was reelected in 2002, 2008, 2014, and 2020.

Fundraising
In the 2008 election cycle, Inhofe's largest campaign donors represented the oil and gas ($446,900 in donations), leadership PACs ($316,720), and electric utilities ($221,654) industries/categories. In 2010, his largest donors represented the oil and gas ($429,950) and electric ($206,654) utilities.

The primary PACs donating to his campaigns were Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association ($55,869), United Parcel Service ($51,850), National Association of Realtors ($51,700), NRA Political Victory Fund ($51,050), and American Medical Association ($51,000). Additionally, if company-sponsored PACs were combined with employee contributions, Koch Industries would be Inhofe's largest contributor, with $90,950 according to OpenSecrets.

Armed Services Committee
As a member of the Armed Services Committee, Inhofe was among the panelists questioning witnesses about the 2004 Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, saying he was "outraged by the outrage" over the revelations of abuse. Although he believed that the individuals responsible for mistreating prisoners should be punished, he said that the prisoners "are not there for traffic violations ... they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents". In 2006, Inhofe was one of only nine senators to vote against the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which prohibits "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of individuals in U.S. Government custody. When chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee John McCain was absent seeking medical treatment for brain cancer, Inhofe became acting chairman of the committee. During this time, Inhofe helped secure the passage of the record $716 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. McCain died in August 2018, and Inhofe lauded him as his "hero". Inhofe also said that McCain was "partially to blame for" the White House's controversial decision to raise flags back to full mast after less than two days, as McCain previously "disagreed with the President in certain areas and wasn't too courteous about it".

On March 6, 2019, Inhofe said he intended to put language in the next defense authorization act to reinforce President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement and reintroduce severe sanctions on Tehran.

Committee assignments and caucus membership
During the 115th, 116th, and 117th Congresses, Inhofe was a member of the following committees:
 * Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Airland
 * Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
 * Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
 * Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
 * Committee on Environment and Public Works
 * Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Caucus memberships

 * International Conservation Caucus
 * Senate Army Caucus
 * Senate Diabetes Caucus
 * Senate General Aviation Caucus
 * Senate Rural Health Caucus
 * Senate Tourism Caucus
 * Sportsmen's Caucus

Retirement
On July 15, 2021, Inhofe told Tulsa World he planned to retire at the end of his current term, in 2027. In February 2022, The New York Times reported that Inhofe was planning to resign at the end of the 117th Congress. A special election for Inhofe's replacement was held in 2022 while he remained in office. He endorsed his former chief of staff, Luke Holland, in the special election. Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district Congressman Markwayne Mullin won the Republican primary and the special election. Inhofe resigned on January 3, 2023. It was reported in February 2023 that the primary reason for Inhofe's retirement was related to him suffering symptoms of long COVID, which had severely limited his capacity to do day-to-day activities, after an initial infection he had described as "very mild".

Political positions
Inhofe was ranked the most conservative member of Congress on the 2017 GovTrack report card. He received the same ranking for 2018. For 2019, he was ranked as the fifth-most conservative member of the U.S. Senate with a score of 0.91 out of 1, behind Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Environmental issues
In December 1997, Inhofe called the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, a "political, economic, and national security fiasco."

Committee on Environment and Public Works
Before the Republicans regained control of the Senate in the November 2002 elections, Inhofe had compared the United States Environmental Protection Agency to a Gestapo bureaucracy, and EPA Administrator Carol Browner to Tokyo Rose. In January 2003, he became Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and continued challenging mainstream science in favor of what he called "sound science", in accordance with the Luntz memo.

Beginning in 2003, when he was first elected Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Inhofe was the foremost Republican promoting climate change denial. He famously claimed in the Senate that global warming is a hoax, invited contrarians to testify in Committee hearings, and spread his views via the Committee website run by Marc Morano as well as through his access to conservative media. In 2012, Inhofe's The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future was published by WorldNetDaily Books, presenting his global warming conspiracy theory. He said that, because "God's still up there", 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", but also that he appreciated that this argument was unpersuasive, and that he "never pointed to Scriptures in a debate, because I know this would discredit me."

As Environment and Public Works chairman, Inhofe gave a two-hour Senate floor speech on July 28, 2003, in the context of discussions on the McCain-Lieberman Bill. He said he was "going to expose the most powerful, most highly financed lobby in Washington, the far left environmental extremists", and laid out in detail his opposition to attribution of recent climate change to humans, using the word "hoax" four times, including the statement that he had "offered compelling evidence that catastrophic global warming is a hoax" and his conclusion that "manmade global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people". He supported what he called "sound science", citing contrarian scientists such as Patrick Michaels, Fred Singer, Richard Lindzen, and Sallie Baliunas as well as some mainstream scientists. Two of these, Tom Wigley and Stephen Schneider, later issued statements that Inhofe had misrepresented their work.

On July 29, the day after his Senate speech, Inhofe chaired an Environment and Public Works hearing with contrarian views represented by Baliunas and David Legates, and praised their "1,000-year climate study", then involved in the Soon and Baliunas controversy, as "a powerful new work of science". Against them, Michael E. Mann defended mainstream science and specifically his work on reconstructions (the hockey stick graph) that they and the Bush administration disputed. During the hearing Senator Jim Jeffords read out an email from Hans von Storch saying he had resigned as editor-in-chief of the journal that published the Soon and Baliunas paper, as the peer review had "failed to detect significant methodological flaws in the paper" and the critique by Mann and colleagues was valid.

In a continuation of these themes, Inhofe had a 20-page brochure published under the Seal of the United States Senate reiterating his "hoax" statement and comparing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to a "Soviet style trial". In a section headed "The IPCC Plays Hockey" he attacked what he called "Mann's flawed, limited research." The brochure restated themes from Inhofe's Senate speech, and in December 2003 he distributed copies of it in Milan at a meeting about the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, where he met "green activists" with posters quoting him as saying that global warming "is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people". He signed a poster for them, and thanked them for quoting him correctly. In an October 2004 Senate speech he said, "Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. It was true when I said it before, and it remains true today. Perhaps what has made this hoax so effective is that we hear over and over that the science is settled and there is a consensus that, unless we fundamentally change our way of life by limiting greenhouse gas emissions, we will cause catastrophic global warming. This is simply a false statement." In January 2005 Inhofe told Bloomberg News that global warming was "the second-largest hoax ever played on the American people, after the separation of church and state", and that carbon dioxide would not be restricted by the Clear Skies Act of 2003. In a Senate Floor "update", he extended his argument against Mann's work by extensively citing Michael Crichton's fictional thriller State of Fear, mistakenly describing Crichton as a "scientist". On August 28, 2005, at Inhofe's invitation, Crichton appeared as an expert witness at a hearing on climate change, disputing Mann's work.

In his 2006 book The Republican War on Science, Chris Mooney wrote that Inhofe "politicizes and misuses the science of climate change".

During the 2006 North American heat wave, Inhofe said that the environmentalist movement reminded him of "the Third Reich, the Big Lie": "You say something over and over and over and over again, and people will believe it, and that's their strategy." In a September 2006 Senate speech Inhofe argued that the threat of global warming was exaggerated by "the media, Hollywood elites and our pop culture". He said that in the 1960s the media had switched from warning of global warming to warning of global cooling and a coming ice age, then in the 1970s had returned to warming to promote "climate change fears". In February 2007 he told Fox News that mainstream science increasingly attributed climate change to natural causes, and only "those individuals on the far left, such as Hollywood liberals and the United Nations", disagreed.

In 2006, Inhofe introduced Senate Amendment 4682 with Kit Bond (R-MO), which would have modified oversight responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers. The League of Conservation Voters, an environmentalist group, said analyses for corps projects "have been manipulated to favor large-scale projects that harm the environment." During the 109th Congress, Inhofe voted to increase offshore oil drilling, to include provisions for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the House Budget Amendment, and to deny funding for both low-income energy assistance and environmental stewardship, citing heavy costs and unproven programs.

In May 2009, Inhofe gave support to the idea that black carbon is a significant contributor to global warming.

Inhofe received money from the fossil fuel industry. For example: "Exxon's beneficiaries in Congress include the Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe, who called global warming a hoax, and who has received $20,500 since 2007, according to the Dirty Energy Money database maintained by Oil Change International."

Climatic Research Unit email controversy
On November 23, 2009, as the Climatic Research Unit email controversy emerged, Inhofe said the emails confirmed his view that scientists were "cooking the science". On December 7 on the CNN program The Situation Room, Inhofe said that the emails showed that the science behind climate change "has been pretty well debunked"; the fact checking organization PolitiFact concluded that Inhofe's statement was false. On the same day, Inhofe said he would lead a three-man "truth squad" consisting of himself and fellow senators Roger Wicker and John Barrasso to the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Inhofe was unable to secure meetings with any negotiators or delegations to the conference and only met with a small group of reporters. The minority group of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works prepared a report on "the CRU Controversy", published in February 2010, which listed as "Key Players" 17 scientists including Mann and Phil Jones. Inhofe said it showed that the controversy was "about unethical and potentially illegal behavior by some of the world's leading climate scientists." On May 26 Inhofe formally requested that the Inspector General of the United States Department of Commerce investigate how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had dealt with the emails, and whether the emails showed any wrongdoing; it found no major issues or inappropriate actions.

Global warming temperatures
In July 2010 Inhofe said, "I don't think that anyone disagrees with the fact that we actually are in a cold period that started about nine years ago. Now, that's not me talking, those are the scientists that say that." The Union of Concerned Scientists said that Inhofe was wrong, pointing to a NOAA report indicating that the summer of 2010 had so far been the hottest on record since 1880. Inhofe added, "People on the other side of this argument back in January, they said, 'Inhofe, it has nothing to do with today's or this month or next month. We're looking at a long period of time. We go into twenty year periods.

During a House committee hearing in 2011, Inhofe testified, "I have to admit—and, you know, confession is good for the soul ... I, too, once thought that catastrophic global warming was caused by anthropogenic gases—because everyone said it was." Under questioning from committee member Jay Inslee, Inhofe dismissed the notion that he was less knowledgeable than climate scientists, saying that he'd already given "five speeches on the science."

2015: Chair of Environment and Public Works committee
On January 21, 2015, Inhofe returned to chairing the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works as part of a new Republican majority in the Senate. In response to NOAA and NASA reports that 2014 had been the warmest year globally in the temperature record, he said, "we had the coldest in the western hemisphere in the same time frame", and attributed changes to a 30-year cycle, not human activities. In a debate on the same day about a bill for the Keystone XL pipeline, Inhofe endorsed an amendment proposed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, "Climate change is real and not a hoax", which passed 98–1. Inhofe clarified his view that "Climate is changing and climate has always changed and always will. There is archaeological evidence of that, there is biblical evidence of that, there is historical evidence of that", but added, "there are some people who are so arrogant to think they are so powerful they can change climate."

On February 26, 2015, Inhofe brought a snowball to the Senate floor and tossed it before delivering remarks in which he said that environmentalists keep talking about global warming even though it keeps getting cold.

Hydraulic fracturing
On March 19, 2015, Inhofe introduced S.828, "The Fracturing Regulations are Effective in State Hands (FRESH) Act." The bill would transfer regulatory power over hydraulic fracturing from the federal government to state governments. In his announcement of the bill, Inhofe said that hydraulic fracturing had never contaminated ground water in Oklahoma. The U.S. senators from seven states (Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Dakota and Texas) cosponsored the bill.

Paris Agreement
Inhofe co-authored and was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. According to OpenSecrets, Inhofe had received over $529,000 from the oil and gas industry since 2012.

Israel Anti-Boycott Act
In October 2017, Inhofe co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S. 720), which would have made it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government.

Western Sahara
Inhofe supported the Polisario Front and traveled to Algeria many times to meet with its leaders. He urged Morocco to hold a referendum on independence for Western Sahara. In 2017, Inhofe blocked the Trump administration's nomination of J. Peter Pham for Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, citing a disagreement over Western Sahara.

After the December 2020 Israel–Morocco normalization agreement, Inhofe sharply criticized the Trump administration for recognizing Morocco's claim over Western Sahara, calling the decision "shocking and deeply disappointing" and adding that he was "saddened that the rights of the Western Sahara people have been traded away".

War in Afghanistan
Inhofe opposed the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan under President Biden, saying that Biden should maintain "a relatively small troop presence until the conditions outlined in the 2020 U.S.-Taliban Agreement are fully implemented."

Immigration
Inhofe wrote the Inhofe Amendment to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which was debated in Congress in May 2006. The amendment would make English the national language of the United States and require that new citizens take an English proficiency test. The amendment was passed on May 18, 2006, with 32 Democrats, one independent, and one Republican dissenting. The measure had 11 cosponsors, including one Democrat.

Gun policy
In the aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Inhofe blamed the "culture of sanctuary cities" for the shootings.

LGBT rights
Inhofe was generally seen as overtly hostile by LGBT advocacy groups, earning a 0% in every one of his terms on the Human Rights Campaign's position scorecard. Inhofe was in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, against adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes, and voted against prohibiting job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In 2008, Inhofe said his office "does not hire openly gay staffers due to the possibility of a conflict of agenda."

Inhofe campaigned for his Senate seat in 1994 using the phrase "God, guns, and gays." In 2008, his campaign was noted by the Associated Press for running an ad with "anti-gay overtones" featuring a wedding cake with two male figures on top, fading into his opponent's face.

In 1999, along with Republican colleagues Tim Hutchinson and Bob Smith, and Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, Inhofe stalled the nomination of James Hormel, a gay man, as US Ambassador to Luxembourg for over 20 months specifically because of Hormel's sexual orientation. President Bill Clinton eventually appointed him in a recess appointment, making him the United States' first openly gay ambassador in June 1999, and angering Inhofe, who held up seven more Clinton appointees in retaliation.

In 2015, Inhofe condemned the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the Constitution.

Racial and gender civil rights
In 1995, Inhofe voted to ban affirmative action hiring with federal funds. In 1997, he voted to end special funding for minority- and women-owned businesses. The bill he voted for would have abolished a program that helps businesses owned by women and minorities to compete for federally funded transportation; it did not pass. The next year, Inhofe voted to repeal the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, which is designed to "remedy ongoing discrimination and the continuing effects of past discrimination in federally-assisted highway, transit, airport, and highway safety financial assistance transportation contracting markets nationwide" by allocating 10% of highway funds to benefit the business enterprises of racial minorities and women.

Overall, in 2002, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) rated Inhofe at 20%, indicating that he held an anti-racial civil rights record. Four years later, on December 31, 2006, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) rated Inhofe at 7%, indicating that he held an anti-civil rights and anti-affirmative action record.

Privacy
In 2001, Inhofe voted to loosen restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. The bill, which passed, removed the requirement that a person or party implementing an order to wiretap a private citizen's cellphone must ascertain that the target of the surveillance is present in the house or using the phone that has been tapped.

Free speech and expression
In 1995, Inhofe co-sponsored a constitutional amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would give Congress and individual U.S. states the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the American flag. The bill's primary sponsor was Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

GI Bill reform
Inhofe, an initial sponsor of Senator Jim Webb's Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, subsequently withdrew support for this bill to support S. 2938, a competing bill that would have provided benefits beyond those offered in Webb's bill. But he voted to enact Webb's legislation in June 2008.

Inhofe agreed to support legislation allowing military mental health specialists to talk with veterans about private firearms in an effort to reduce suicides.

Aviation
Trained by the U.S. Navy, Inhofe was one of the few members of Congress holding a Commercial Airman certificate. In 1994, when he first ran for the U.S. Senate, he used his plane as a daily campaign vehicle to travel throughout Oklahoma and visit almost every town in the state. He was influential in Senate and Congressional debates involving aircraft regulation. In 2012, he authored the Pilot's Bill of Rights bill.

Taxpayer-funded travel
Inhofe said that he made over 140 trips to Africa over about 20 years and helped to get United States Africa Command established. He made multiple foreign trips, especially to Africa, on missions that he described as "a Jesus thing" and that were paid for by the U.S. government. He used these trips for activities on behalf of The Fellowship, a Christian organization. Inhofe said that his trips included some governmental work but also involved "the political philosophy of Jesus, something that had been put together by Doug Coe, the leader of The Fellowship ... It's all scripturally based." Inhofe used his access as a Senator to pursue religious goals.

Federal disaster relief
Inhofe consistently voted against federal disaster relief, most notably in the case of relief for the 24 states affected by Hurricane Sandy, but argued for federal aid when natural disasters hit Oklahoma. In defense of his decision to vote against a relief fund for Sandy but not in Oklahoma after tornadoes ravaged it in May 2013, he claimed the situations were "totally different", in that the Sandy funding involved "Everybody getting in and exploiting the tragedy that took place. That won't happen in Oklahoma." Inhofe pointedly did not thank President Obama for his attention to the tragedy in his state, so as to not be compared to Chris Christie.

Sought federal environmental cleanup funds
Inhofe was instrumental in securing millions of dollars of federal funds to clean up contamination at a former mining hub in northeast Oklahoma after the affected site had spent decades on the Environmental Protection Agency Superfund list. He supported participation in the massive federal government buyout program for the Tar Creek Superfund site that purchased homes and businesses within a 40-square-mile (104-square-kilometer) region where for decades, children consistently tested positive for dangerous levels of lead in their blood.

Earmarks
In April 2021, Inhofe expressed support for bringing back earmarks to the United States Senate.

Presidential Impeachments
On February 12, 1999, Inhofe was one of 50 senators to vote to convict and remove Bill Clinton from office. On February 5, 2020, he voted to acquit Donald Trump, and on February 13, 2021, he voted to acquit Trump for the second time.

2016 presidential election
Early during the Republican Party presidential primaries in 2016, Inhofe endorsed fellow Republican John Kasich. During Donald Trump's presidency, he voted in line with Trump's position 94.2% of the time.

Purchase of Raytheon stock
In December 2018, Inhofe bought $50,000 to $100,000 worth of stock in Raytheon, a major defense contractor that has billions of dollars' worth of contracts with the Pentagon. The week before, he had successfully lobbied the Trump administration to increase military spending. Ethics watchdogs said the purchase raised conflict of interest concerns, and noted that members of Congress are not allowed to purchase stocks on the basis of information that is not publicly available. Inhofe sold the stock shortly after reporters asked him about the purchase. He said the purchase was made by a third-party adviser who manages Inhofe's investments on his behalf.

Judiciary
In March 2016, around seven months before the next presidential election, Inhofe argued that the Senate should not consider Obama's Supreme Court nominee because "we must let the people decide the Supreme Court's future" via the presidential election. In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Inhofe supported an immediate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death.

Inhofe also voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh (Trump's other two Supreme Court nominations) while voting against Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan (Obama's two Supreme Court nominations). All four were successful.

2021 storming of the United States Capitol
On May 28, 2021, Inhofe abstained from voting on the creation of an independent commission to investigate the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

Personal life

On December 19, 1959, Inhofe married Kay Kirkpatrick, with whom he had four children. His mother, Blanche M. Inhofe, died in 1975. On November 10, 2013, one of Inhofe's sons, Perry Inhofe, died in a plane crash in Owasso, Oklahoma, flying alone for the first time since training in a newly acquired Mitsubishi MU-2. Molly Rapert, an academic, is Inhofe's daughter.

Inhofe had his pilot's license since he was 28; he flew a Van's Aircraft RV-8. He attended the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for 20 years; in 2021, he said, "I've slept in the same tent for 20 years. If you're not sleeping in a tent, it's not like being at Oshkosh." Inhofe had to emergency-land his plane multiple times throughout his career.

He was the first recipient of the U.S. Air Force Academy's Character and Leadership Award for his character and leadership in public service.

Towards the end of his life Inhofe had symptoms of long COVID, which severely limited his capacity to do day-to-day activities.

Inhofe died from complications of a stroke at a hospital in Tulsa, on July 9, 2024, at the age of 89.

title: Jim Inhofe


text:
Don Nickles

Donald Lee Nickles (born December 6, 1948) is an American politician and lobbyist who was a Republican United States Senator from Oklahoma from 1981 to 2005. He was considered both a fiscal and social conservative. After retiring from the Senate as the longest-serving senator from Oklahoma up until that point, he founded the Nickles Group, a lobbying firm.

Early life
Nickles was born and raised in Ponca City, Oklahoma, the son of Coeweene (Bryan) and Robert C. Nickles. He attended Ponca City public schools graduating from Ponca City High School in 1967. To help pay for their education at Oklahoma State University, he and his wife, the former Linda Lou Morrison, operated Don Nickles Professional Cleaning Service in Stillwater. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Oklahoma State University, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration in 1971.

After college, he went to work for Nickles Machine Corporation in Ponca City, a business started in 1918 by his grandfather, Clair Nickles. He became the company's vice president and general manager. He also served in the Kansas Army National Guard and the Oklahoma Army National Guard from 1970 until 1976. A formative experience was the distress his family suffered following the death of his father, Robert, in 1961, when Nickles was twelve years old. The family had to sell off part of the family business to raise cash to pay the required estate tax. In 1978, aged 29, his election to the Oklahoma State Senate was the beginning of his career in public office. Two years later, at the age of 31, he became and remains the youngest Republican ever elected to the U.S. Senate.

Tenure
He sponsored legislation to cut taxes, reduce government spending, promote national defense, and reduce what he believed to be official hostility to religion. He sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act which allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states.

As Republican Whip, Nickles called for the resignation of fellow Republican Trent Lott as majority leader after Lott made remarks praising Strom Thurmond that seemed insensitive to the issue of racial segregation. The National Federation of Independent Business praised Nickles for including in the Senate's 2005 budget a provision that would accelerate by one year a complete repeal of the federal estate tax

Nickles was one of many Republican senators who in 1981 called the White House to express his discontent over the nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor of Arizona to the United States Supreme Court. Nickles said that he and other socially conservative Republican senators would not support O'Connor because of her "presumed unwillingness" to overturn the abortion decision Roe v. Wade.

During a 1986 campaign rally at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, President Reagan accidentally called him Don Rickles, the American comedian. The president was later told about his mistake and found it very amusing.

Nickles was one of three Senators to vote against the confirmation of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and one of nine to vote against the confirmation of Stephen Breyer to the Supreme Court.

Leadership
Nickles quickly rose in the Senate Republican leadership, serving as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the 101st Congress; Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the 102nd, 103rd, and 104th Congresses; and Assistant Republican Leader from 1996 to 2003. After being term-limited out of the Assistant Leader position, Nickles served in the 108th Congress as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Nickles was also on Bob Dole's short list of vice presidential choices, before Dole finally decided on former Congressman Jack Kemp of New York.

In December 2002, Nickles became embroiled in the controversy surrounding Republican Leader Trent Lott. At Senator Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, Lott had made comments that some took to be racially insensitive. As the controversy grew, Nickles went on national television and became the first senator in the Republican leadership to say that Lott should step down. Nickles believed that the controversy over Lott's remarks would distract from the Republican legislative agenda, and as he served as Lott's deputy in the Senate this statement was seen as the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back." Despite many apologies for his remarks, Lott stepped down shortly thereafter. Declining to run for the position of Senate Majority Leader himself, Lott was succeeded by Bill Frist of Tennessee.

Nickles was re-elected in 1986, 1992 and 1998 and was the senior senator from Oklahoma from 1994 to 2005.

Post-Senate career
On October 7, 2003, he announced that he would not run in the 2004 election. Republican Tom Coburn was elected to succeed Nickles.

Nickles went on to found the Nickles Group, a government consulting group in Washington, D.C. He also serves on the boards of directors of a number of public companies, such as Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy.

Nickles was one of the politicians featured in the film Traffic, giving his opinion on the war on drugs.

Family
Nickles and his wife, Linda, have four children.

Other sources

 * "Nickles, McCaleb Try to Sabotage Oklahoma Amtrak Service, Opt for Yugo Rather Than Cadillac." Oklahoma State Senate. Communications Division, State Capitol. May 24, 1999.
 * Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774–1996. Alexandria, Va.: CQ Staff Directories, 1997.
 * "Donald Nickles." Research Division, Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City, Okla.
 * Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1989. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989.
 * Congressional Directory, 106th Congress, 1999–2000. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1999.
 * Congressional Quarterly's Politics in America 2000, The 106th Congress. Philip D. Duncan and Brian Nutting, eds. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1999.
 * Who's Who in American Politics, 1997–1998. Marquis Who's Who, 1997.

title: Don Nickles


text:
James Legge

James Legge (20 December 1815 – 29 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong (1840–1873) and was the first Professor of Chinese at Oxford University (1876–1897). In association with Max Müller he prepared the monumental Sacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.

Early life
James Legge was born at Huntly, Aberdeenshire. He enrolled in Aberdeen Grammar School at age 13 and then King's College, Aberdeen at age 15. He then continued his studies at Highbury Theological College, London.

Mission to China and family
Legge went, in 1839, as a missionary to China, but first stayed at Malacca three years, in charge of the Anglo-Chinese College there. The College was subsequently moved to Hong Kong, where Legge lived for nearly thirty years. On 2 December 1843, Legge married Mary Isabella Morison (1816–1852), daughter of the Rev. John Morison, D.D. of Chelsea. The next year, she gave birth in Hong Kong to a son who lived for only a few hours. By her he also fathered Sir Thomas Morison Legge, the first Medical Inspector of Factories and Workshops in the UK. A Chinese Christian, Wat Ngong, accompanied Legge when he moved in 1844. He returned home to Huntly, Aberdeenshire, in 1846–7, taking with him three Chinese students. Legge and the students were received by Queen Victoria before his return to Hong Kong.

After Isabella died, he married secondly a widow, Hannah Mary Willetts née Johnstone (d. 1881).

Translating the classics
Convinced of the need for missionaries to be able to comprehend the ideas and culture of the Chinese, he began in 1841 a translation in many volumes of the Chinese classics, a monumental task that he completed a few years before his death. During his residence in Hong Kong, he translated Chinese classic literature into English with the help of Wang Tao and Hong Rengan, among others. He was appointed headmaster of Ying Wa College in Malacca in 1839 and continued in that position until 1867, the college having removed to Hong Kong in 1844. He was pastor of the Union Church in Hong Kong from 1844 to 1867.

He was third and final editor of the Chinese Serial, the first Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong. The paper closed in May 1856.

In 1867, Legge returned to Dollar in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, where he invited Wang Tao to join him, and received his LLD from the University of Aberdeen in 1870. While in Scotland, he also revisited his native burgh, Huntly, accompanied by Wang Tao. He then returned to Hong Kong as pastor at Union Church from 1870 to 1873. While in Hong Kong he published The She King (Classic of Poetry) in 1871 which according to Peter France is the first substantial volume of Chinese poetry in English translation still in use. The work underwent a new edition in 1876 in verse.

He took a long trip to North China, beginning 2 April 1873 in Shanghai, arriving at Tianjin by boat, then travelling by mule cart and arriving in Peking on 16 April 1873, where he stayed at the London Missionary Society headquarters. He visited the Great Wall, Ming Tombs and the Temple of Heaven, where he felt compelled to take off his shoes with holy awe. He left Peking, accompanied by Joseph Edkins, and headed for Shandong by mule cart to visit Jinan, Taishan, where they ascended the sacred Mount Tai, carried by four men on chairs. Leaving Mount Tai on 15 May, they visited Confucius Temple and the Forest of Confucius at Qufu, where he climbed to the top of Confucius' burial mound. Legge returned to Shanghai by way of the Grand Canal, and thence to England via Japan and the USA in 1873.

In addition to his other works Legge wrote The Life and Teaching of Confucius (1867); The Life and Teaching of Mencius (1875); The Religions of China (1880); and other books on Chinese literature and religion. His respect for Confucianism was controversial among his fellow missionaries.

Oxford professor
In 1875, he was named Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford and in 1876 assumed the new Chair of Chinese Language and Literature at Oxford. As a Scottish nonconformist in the deeply Anglican university and city of Oxford, Legge was often treated as an outsider until his death.

At Oxford he attracted few students to his lectures but worked hard for some 20 years on his translations of the Chinese classics in his study at 3 Keble Terrace, later renumbered 3 Keble Road, which now has an Oxfordshire Blue Plaque in his memory. According to an anonymous contemporary obituary in the Pall Mall Gazette, Legge was in his study every morning at three o'clock, winter and summer, having retired to bed at ten. When he got up in the morning the first thing he did was to make himself a cup of tea over a spirit-lamp. Then he worked away at his translations while all the household slept.

In 1879, Legge was a member of a committee formed to create a women's college at Oxford "in which no distinction will be made between students on the ground of their belonging to different religious denominations". This resulted in the founding of Somerville Hall, later renamed Somerville College, one of the first two Oxford colleges for women.

While at Oxford, Legge was an ardent opponent of Britain's opium policy, and was a founding member of the Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade in 1874.

Legge was given an honorary MA, University of Oxford, and LLD, University of Edinburgh, 1884. He was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1895.

Death and legacy
Legge died at Oxford in 1897 and is buried in Wolvercote Cemetery. The remains of his second wife Hannah, who died before him in 1881, were exhumed from Saint Sepulchre's cemetery and placed beside the body of her husband in Wolvercote.

Most of his most important manuscripts and letters are archived at the School of Oriental and African Studies and, secondly, in the Bodleian Library.

Name for God in Bible translation
Initially, Legge followed the pattern set by Robert Morrison and preferred to translate the Christian God into Chinese using the word "Shen". However, he was increasing convinced by his Chinese collaborators Hong Rengan and He Jinshan that "Shangdi" from the Book of Documents and the Classic of Poetry was a more appropriate term. He also drew from his education in Scottish common sense realism various hermeneutical principles in translation. Ultimately, by the 1850s, Legge concluded that the word "Shangdi" represented a monotheistic god, and argued it was the most appropriate term for translating words in reference to the Christian God into Chinese. He believed that using a term already deeply entrenched in Chinese culture could prevent Christianity from being seen as a completely foreign religion. His opponents argued that this would cause confusion due to the word's use in Taoism and Chinese folk religion.

Selected works

Legge's most enduring work has been The Chinese Classics: with a Translation, Critical and Exegetical Notes, Prolegomena, and Copious Indexes, 5 vols., (Hong Kong: Legge; London: Trubner, 1861–1872): These contain parallel Chinese and English text, with detailed notes, introductions and indexes. Chinese names are transcribed in Legge's own romanisation.
 * Volume 1: Confucian Analects, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean (1861). Revised second edition (1893), Oxford: Clarendon Press, reprinted by Cosimo in 2006 (ISBN 978-1-60520-643-1). The Confucian Analects
 * Volume 2: The works of Mencius (1861), Revised second edition (1895), Oxford: Clarendon Press, reprinted by Dover Books in 1990 (ISBN 978-0-486-26375-5).
 * Volume 3: The Shoo King (Book of Historical Documents) (1865):
 * Part 1: Prolegomena (with Bamboo Annals) and Chapters 1–36
 * Part 2: Chapters 37–58 and indexes
 * Volume 4: The She king (Classic of Poetry) (1871)
 * Part 1: Prolegomena and first section
 * Part 2: Second, third and fourth sections
 * Volume 5: The Ch'un ts'ew (Spring and Autumn Annals), with the Tso chuen (Commentary of Zuo) (1872)
 * Part 1: Books 1–8
 * Part 2: Books 9–12

Legge originally planned his Chinese Classics as seven volumes, but his translations of the I Ching and Book of Rites (and several others) were instead included in the Sacred Books of the East series edited by Max Müller (Oxford: Clarendon Press):
 * Volume 3: The Shû king (Book of Documents). The religious portions of the Shih king (Classic of Poetry). The Hsiâo king (Classic of Filial Piety). (1879)
 * Volume 16: The Yî king (I Ching) (1882)
 * The Lî Kî (Book of Rites) (1885), 2 vols.:
 * Volume 27: Chapters 1–10
 * Volume 28: Chapters 11–46
 * The Texts of Taoism: The Tâo Teh King (Tao Te Ching); The Writings of Kwang-dze (Chuang Tzŭ) (1891), 2 vols.:
 * Volume 39: Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzŭ books 1–17.
 * Volume 40: Chuang Tzŭ books 18–33 and shorter works: the Taishang Ganying Pian (Tractate of Actions and their Retributions), the Qingjing Jing (Classic of Purity), the Yinfujing (Classic of the Harmony of the Seen and Unseen), the Yushu Jing (Classic of the Pivot of Jade) and the Nei Riyong Jing (Classic of the Directory for the Day).

Other works:
 * The religions of China: Confucianism and Tâoism described and compared with Christianity, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1880.
 * The Nestorian monument of Hsî-an Fû in Shen-hsî, China, London: Trübner & co., 1888; repr New York: Paragon Book, 1966, ISBN 978-0-8188-0062-7. (Contains Chinese-English parallel.)

title: James Legge


text:
Tokusō

Tokusō (得宗) was the title (post) held by the head of the mainline Hōjō clan, who also monopolized the position of shikken (regents to the shogunate) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan during the period of Regent Rule (1199–1333). It’s important not to confuse a regent of the shogunate with a regent of the Emperor (the latter are called Sesshō and Kampaku). Shikkens were the first regents to the shogunate.

The tokusō from 1256 to 1333 was the military dictator of Japan as de facto head of the bakufu (shogunate); despite the actual shōgun being merely a puppet. This implies that all other positions in Japan—the Emperor, the Imperial Court, Sesshō and Kampaku, and the shikken (regent of the shōgun)—had also been reduced to figureheads.

Origin
The name tokusō is said to have come from Tokushū (徳崇), the Buddhist name of Hōjō Yoshitoki, but Hōjō Tokimasa is usually regarded as the first tokusō. There were eight tokusō:

 * 1) Hōjō Tokimasa
 * 2) Hōjō Yoshitoki
 * 3) Hōjō Yasutoki
 * 4) Hōjō Tsunetoki
 * 5) Hōjō Tokiyori
 * 6) Hōjō Tokimune
 * 7) Hōjō Sadatoki
 * 8) Hōjō Takatoki

The political structure of the tokusō dictatorship was set up by Yasutoki and was consolidated by his grandson Tokiyori. The tokusō line held overwhelming power over the gokenin and the cadet lines of the Hōjō clan. Tokiyori often worked out policies at private meetings (寄合) at his residence instead of discussing them at the Hyōjō (評定), the council of the shogunate. This made the tokusō's private retainers (御内人) stronger. In 1256, Tokiyori separated the positions of shikken and tokusō for the first time. Because of an illness, he installed his infant son Tokimune as the tokusō while Nagatoki, a collateral relative, was appointed shikken to assist Tokimune.

title: Tokusō


text:
Xu Sheng

Xu Sheng (died c. 224–229), courtesy name Wenxiang, was a military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China.

Early life and career
Xu Sheng was from Ju County (莒縣), Langya Commandery (琅邪郡), which is present-day Ju County, Shandong. When chaos broke out in central and northern China towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Xu Sheng moved from his hometown to Wu Commandery (around present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu) in southern China, where he gained a reputation for his bravery. He was later recruited by the warlord Sun Quan, who controlled much of the territories in Jiangdong at the time. Sun Quan appointed Xu Sheng as a Major of Separate Command (別部司馬), placed him in command of 500 troops, and appointed him as the Chief of Chaisang (柴桑; around present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi) to defend the county from attacks by Huang Zu, the Administrator of Jiangxia Commandery (江夏郡; around present-day Xinzhou District, Wuhan, Hubei).

Huang Zu once sent his son, Huang She (黃射), to lead a few thousand troops to attack Chaisang. At the time, Xu Sheng had less than 200 men with him, so they released arrows at Huang She's advancing forces and wounded over 1,000 enemy soldiers. Xu Sheng then ordered the city gates to be opened and they charged out and defeated the enemy. Huang She no longer posed a threat to Xu Sheng after that battle. Xu Sheng was promoted to Colonel (校尉) and appointed as the Prefect of Wuhu County. Later, he defeated some bandits in Nan'e (南阿) and Lincheng (臨城) counties. He was subsequently promoted to General of the Household (中郎將) and tasked with overseeing a regiment.

Wars with Cao Cao and Liu Bei
In 213, when Sun Quan's rival Cao Cao led an army to attack Ruxu (濡須; north of present-day Wuwei County, Anhui), Xu Sheng followed Sun Quan to resist the enemy at the Battle of Ruxu. Cao Cao launched a heavy assault on Hengjiang (橫江; southeast of present-day He County, Anhui, on the northern shore of the Yangtze), so Xu Sheng and Sun Quan's other generals led their forces to defend that position. Strong winds blew their mengchongs (a type of warship) across the river towards Cao Cao's side. Sun Quan's generals were all terrified and did not dare to land on the enemy's grounds. However, Xu Sheng led his men to charge at the enemy and succeeded in killing a few and forcing the rest to retreat. When the winds stopped, Sun Quan's forces returned to their side. Sun Quan highly praised Xu Sheng for his courage.

Between 214 and 215, Sun Quan led his armies to attack Hefei, a strategic fortress defended by Cao Cao's general Zhang Liao, leading to the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford. During an early skirmish, when Sun Quan's forces were just setting up their camps outside Hefei, Zhang Liao suddenly led hundreds of troops on a fierce assault, completely catching the enemy off guard. Xu Sheng's unit was routed and his men turned around and fled. Pan Zhang, another officer under Sun Quan, executed two deserters – one from Xu Sheng's unit and the other from Song Qian's. Xu Sheng had no choice but to gather his remaining men and return to battle. He lost his mao (矛; a type of long spear) in the earlier clash but He Qi found his weapon later on the battlefield. A plague eventually forced Sun Quan to withdraw his forces from Hefei. As they were retreating, Zhang Liao and his troops launched a sudden counterattack and inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy at Xiaoyao Ford.

Xu Sheng was promoted to General Who Builds Martial Might (建武將軍), enfeoffed as a Marquis of a Chief Village (都亭侯), appointed as the Administrator of Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡), and given Lincheng County (臨城縣) as his marquisate. Between 221 and 222, when the Battle of Xiaoting broke out between Sun Quan and Liu Bei, Xu Sheng participated in the war and succeeded in capturing many enemy camps when Sun Quan's forces launched a counterattack after enduring defeats in earlier engagements.

War with Wei, and death
In late 222, Cao Pi ordered his general Cao Xiu to lead the Wei armies to attack Dongkou County. In response to the invasion, Xu Sheng, along with Lü Fan and Quan Cong led Sun Quan's forces across the river to defend Dongkou. However, they encountered a storm and many of their troops and ships were lost. Sun Quan's generals were browbeaten because they had lost about half of their ships in the storm, but were overjoyed when they heard of the arrival of He Qi, who reached Dongkou behind schedule and was not affected by the disaster. Coincidentally, He Qi was obsessed with luxuries so his ships were finely decorated and his weapons were of top quality. Cao Xiu was shocked when he witnessed the grandeur display of He Qi's refulgent navy so he paused the attack and withdrew. Xu Sheng managed to gather his surviving troops and form a defence line along the shore. A naval battle ensued, during which Cao Xiu targeted Lü Fan while sending his subordinates to attack Xu Sheng. Xu Sheng was outnumbered but he managed to hold his position. Both sides eventually withdrew their forces. Xu Sheng was subsequently promoted to General Who Stabilises the East (安東將軍) and elevated from the status of a village marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Wuhu" (蕪湖侯).

In late 224, when Cao Pi mobilised a large army to attack Sun Quan, Xu Sheng suggested to pitch encampments from Jianye, erect fake towers within each camp, and suspend some warships on the river. Sun Quan's other generals disagreed and felt that such "defences" would serve no purpose, but Xu Sheng ignored them and proceeded with his plan.

Xu Sheng's ruse effectively led to the construction of a "wall" along the river banks that served as a border stretching over hundreds of li. When Cao Pi reached Guangling Commandery (廣陵郡; covering parts of present-day Jiangsu), he saw Sun Quan's "strong defences" and the high tide and sighed, "Wei has thousands of armed cavalry units but they can't be deployed here". He then withdrew his forces. Sun Quan's generals finally recognised the value of Xu Sheng's plan.

Xu Sheng died sometime during the Huangwu era (222-229) of Sun Quan's reign before Sun Quan declared himself emperor and established the state of Eastern Wu. His militia and marquis title were inherited by his son, Xu Kai (徐楷).

Appraisal
Xu Sheng was known for his confidence and fervent loyalty towards Sun Quan, as demonstrated in the incident when Xing Zhen (邢貞) came to confer the title "King of Wu" (吳王) on Sun Quan. In 220, Sun Quan became a vassal of the state of Cao Wei, which replaced the Han dynasty after the Wei founder, Cao Pi, forced Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne to him. Cao Pi sent Xing Zhen as an emissary to meet Sun Quan and confer the title "King of Wu" (吳王) on him. Xing Zhen behaved arrogantly in front of Sun Quan and incurred much anger from Sun Quan's subjects, including Zhang Zhao and Xu Sheng. Xu Sheng told his colleagues: "Isn't it humiliating to watch our lord submit to Xing Zhen and not be able to serve him with our lives and help him conquer Xu, Luoyang and Bashu?" Tears rolled down his face. When Xing Zhen heard Xu Sheng's remark, he told an aide: "It's obvious from the reactions of the subjects of Jiangdong that they won't remain subservient for long." Xing Zhen was right, because in 222, Sun Quan declared independence from Wei but continued ruling his domain under the title "King of Wu" before declaring himself emperor in 229.

Xu Sheng's ego did not always lead to positive actions though. After the Battle of Ruxu in 217, Zhou Tai was appointed as the commander of the garrison at Ruxu, with Xu Sheng and Zhu Ran as his subordinates. However, both of them were unwilling to submit to Zhou Tai's command, citing the latter's humble origins in comparison to their more affluent family backgrounds. When Sun Quan heard about it, he visited Ruxu and hosted a party for all the officers there, during which he asked Zhou Tai to display his battle scars for all to see. He later awarded Zhou Tai with an imperial parasol. After that incident, Xu Sheng and Zhu Ran agreed to submit to Zhou Tai's command.

Xu Sheng was also known for his tendency to worry too much. When he was serving as the Prefect of Wuhu County, he arrested one of Jiang Qin's subordinates and sought permission from Sun Quan to have that man executed. However, Sun Quan declined because Jiang Qin was away battling bandits in Yuzhang Commandery (豫章郡). Since then, Xu Sheng had been apprehensive of Jiang Qin. During the Battle of Ruxu in 217, Jiang Qin and Lü Meng were placed in charge of military discipline among Sun Quan's forces. Xu Sheng was worried that Jiang Qin might use the opportunity to find fault with him, but much to his surprise, Jiang Qin praised him in front of Sun Quan. When Sun Quan asked Jiang Qin why he did so, Jiang Qin replied that Xu Sheng was "loyal and hardworking, possessed both courage and talent, and was capable of leading thousands of troops".

title: Xu Sheng


text:
John Anderson (Australian politician)

John Duncan Anderson (born 14 November 1956) is an Australian politician and commentator who served as the 11th deputy prime minister of Australia and leader of the National Party from 1999 to 2005. He had also served as Minister for Primary Industries and Energy Minister for Transport and Regional Development in the Howard government.

As a government minister and later deputy prime minister, Anderson had cabinet responsibility for primary industry policy, including transport infrastructure and agricultural water rights. He was a member of Australia's National Security Committee from 1999 to 2005 when it faced the War on terror, in particular the Bali bombings.

After politics, Anderson has been published for his views on civic freedoms, global food security, modern slavery and the economy. In 2017 he launched a web-based interview program, Conversations with John Anderson, featuring interviews with public intellectuals. In this role he has advocated for many socially conservative causes, such as the "no" case in the 2023 Australian referendum and the establishment of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Early life and education
Anderson was born in Sydney on 14 November 1956. He is the son of Duncan Anderson and Beryl Mann. His family had been graziers and landowners of Mullaley in northern New South Wales since the 1840s. Duncan Anderson served with the Australian Light Horse troops in North Africa during World War II.

When he was three years old, John's mother died of cancer. In 1970, his sister Jane died after being struck on the neck by a cricket ball that had been hit by Anderson (then aged 13) while playing cricket at home with his father.

Anderson has described his religious upbringing as "very, very nominal Presbyterian".

Anderson was tutored at home by his aunt, Margaret, through Blackfriars Correspondence School. He attended Gunnedah South Public School in Gunnedah and The King's School in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta, boarding at Waddy House.

He began a degree in arts and laws at the University of Sydney, where he was a resident of St Paul's College, but dropped law shortly after commencing. Anderson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history and returned to the family property where he was a farmer and grazier, and completed a Master of Arts during this time.

Early parliamentary career
Anderson became chair of the National Party's Tambar Springs branch in 1984. A few weeks later, MP Frank O'Keefe recommended Anderson run for the seat of Paterson, where he was current member, but the seat was abolished later that year. In 1989, Ralph Hunt, the sitting MP in the neighbouring seat of Gwydir, retired and supported Anderson to replace him. The ensuing pre-selection contest was close, Anderson defeating several contenders that included future independent MP, Tony Windsor. Anderson won the election with a two-party preferred result of 56%. His first remarks to the House of Representatives were part of a condolence motion for his mentor, and former MP, Frank O'Keefe. Anderson gave his maiden speech on 17 August 1989.

After the 1990 election, Anderson became Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, John Howard. After the 1993 election, Anderson was elected deputy leader of the Nationals, defeating three other candidates; Peter McGauran, John Sharp and Bruce Scott; and was appointed Shadow Minister for Primary Industry. In the shadow ministry, he criticised the minister Simon Crean on the government-set price floor for wool.

Cabinet minister
In the 1996 Australian federal election, Anderson made an election promise with John Howard for the establishment of a $1 billion fund to restore the national estate, including programs to arrest soil degradation."  He was made the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy and joined the five-person "razor gang" led by Peter Costello with the task of cutting $6 to $8 billion from government expenditure.  Anderson advocated that diesel fuel rebates, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and agricultural research and development should be protected from the spending cuts because they "create growth even if they are funded by debt."

Minister for Primary Industries and Energy
Anderson's three years in the primary industries portfolio were marked by conflict as government protection of primary industries were removed. During this time, the government deregulated the wool, wheat and dairy sectors, and privatised much of the meat and livestock industry. Anderson led a delegation of Australian business leaders to visit Taiwan in September 1996 in his role as primary industries minister, which the People's Republic of China said contravened the One China policy.

In response to the government-owned Australian Wool Corporation (AWC) being left with a surplus of four million bales of unsold wool and a debt of around $2 billion, Anderson and the Coalition government gave wool producers a pay-out of $300 million, drawing down against their equity in the wool stockpile, despite objections from many National Party members who preferred a policy of freezing sales from the stockpile. The government wool-owning entity was entirely privatised, to become Woolstock Australia, by August 2001.

Anderson announced significant restructures of the meat and livestock industry in 1997, which were supported with some reservations by farmers groups, such as NSW Farmers. In 1998, Meat & Livestock Australia was created from the two organisations, with the goal of becoming a less costly, producer-owned service delivery body.

Minister for Transport and Regional Development
In September 1997, Anderson assumed the portfolio for Transport and Regional Development, giving him responsibility for developing national rail, road and water infrastructure. Anderson oversaw the creation of the Australian Rail Track Corporation, a Commonwealth body set up to own or hold long-term leases over much of the continental rail network.

In response to criticism over industry deregulation, the privatisation of Telstra and gun control laws, Fischer and Anderson scheduled a party meeting on 5 August 1998 to declare their leadership positions vacant, inviting their party room critics, particularly Bob Katter and De-Anne Kelly, to replace them. Anderson and Fischer then nominated for the positions they had vacated and were re-elected unopposed.

During the 1998 federal election, private polling indicated that up to 49% of people in Anderson's seat of Gwydir intended to vote for the new Pauline Hanson's One Nation party. Anderson suffered a 16.18% swing against him with a primary vote of just 46.14%, the only time his first-round votes were below 50%. Anderson himself attributed the decline in his vote to his constant travel.

Deputy prime minister
Following the resignation of deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Tim Fischer, Anderson was elected unopposed as the new leader and became deputy prime minister himself on 20 July 1999. Anderson kept his ministerial responsibilities in Transport and Regional Development and were extended to the delivery of government services, such as health, to regional and remote centres, and a role in the National Security Committee. Anderson also assumed the role of acting prime minister when John Howard was overseas, such as during the September 11 attacks and in the aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombings.

In 2002, Anderson called for laws making it an offence to desecrate the Australian flag.

Anderson's ministerial department was responsible for paying outstanding wages and entitlements for former employees of the insolvent airline Ansett Australia, though allowing it to collapse.

During Anderson's tenure as deputy prime minister, the Coalition government established the National Water Initiative in 2004, allowing producers to gain ongoing access entitlements for a share of water available for use, rather than fixed-term entitlements without guarantee of renewal.

On 17 November 2004, the MP for New England, Tony Windsor, accused Anderson of offering him, via businessman Greg Maguire, a diplomatic or trade posting if Windsor would surrender his seat. As the statement was made under parliamentary privilege, it was protected from litigation for defamation. Anderson strongly repudiated the claims. The Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee, the Federal Police and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions found that there were no grounds to support Windsor's allegations.

On the last sitting day of Parliament before the winter recess of 2005, Anderson announced his resignation from the leadership of the National Party, and as deputy prime minister, citing a "debilitating but thankfully benign prostate condition". He was succeeded in both positions by Mark Vaile, and retired from parliament at the 2007 federal election.

Business and media
He served as chairman of Eastern Star Gas (ESG) from October 2007 until 2011 when the publicly listed company and its flagship Narrabri Gas Project was acquired by Santos in a $924 million deal. He was appointed to the Review Panel for the Act of Recognition in 2013 to provide a report to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, along with Tanya Hosch and Richard Eccles. The final report of the panel was published in September 2014.

In the late 2010s, Anderson increased his presence on online media through podcasting and conducting interviews on Youtube, as well as newspaper opinion pieces and television appearances. In 2018, Anderson began hosting a podcast and YouTube channel on which he interviews public figures, including historian Victor Davis Hanson, former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Labor Party leader Kim Beazley, Jonathan Haidt, Glenn Loury, Niall Ferguson, and psychologist Jordan Peterson.

With this public position, Anderson has taken notable stands on national and cultural issues. Prior to the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, Anderson was interviewed on ABC television and spoke about his opposition to same-sex marriage. He opposed the Voice to Parliament in the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum. He formed an advocacy group towards this end alongside Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine, saying the voice would only "beget divisiveness and cynicism." The referendum was later defeated. In March 2021, Anderson declared himself a candidate in the National Party's pre-selection for Senate candidacy at the 2022 federal election. However, former party director Ross Cadell, won the top spot on the Nationals' Senate ticket. Anderson then announced that the political run had come to an end.

Anderson worked with Baroness Stroud, Paul Marshall and Jordan Peterson to found the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, a socially conservative movement aiming to give Western society "new cohesion and purpose." He spoke at its first global conference in London, in 2023, saying the group emerged as a response to a "civilisational" moment in which the Western world "is plagued by self-doubt and confusion" regarding its values and beliefs.

Honours
On 13 June 2011, Anderson was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly for supporting rural and regional communities, transport development, and water management initiatives."

In 2019, Anderson was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) for sustainable means for agricultural uses in rural Australia.

In June 2022, Anderson was promoted to Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "eminent service to rural and regional development, to leadership in international agricultural research and food security, to social commentary, and through contributions to not-for-profit organisations".

title: John Anderson (Australian politician)