Ben N. Campbell was a member of the United States Senate from 1993 to 2005. Campbell, a Republican, represented Colorado. Before becoming a senator, Campbell had served in the Colorado House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Senate

People in the United States observe Native American Heritage Month each year in November. During this period, many Native tribes celebrate their cultures, histories, and traditions. It is also a time to raise awareness of the challenges Indigenous people have faced in the past and today, along with their contributions to the United States as its first inhabitants.

Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne chief, was a member of the United States Senate from 1993 to 2005. He represented Colorado. When he was elected, Campbell became the first Native American person since the late 1920′s to hold a U.S. Senate seat. Charles Curtis, whose mother was part Native American, served in the Senate from 1907 to 1913 and again from 1915 to 1929. Campbell was elected as a Democrat. In 1995, he switched to the Republican Party.

As a senator, Campbell focused on such issues as water conservation and environmental preservation. He worked to protect Colorado’s water resources.

Campbell was born on April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California. His father was Northern Cheyenne, and his mother was of Portuguese descent. Campbell served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1953. He earned a bachelor’s degree from San José State University in 1957. He also attended Meiji University in Tokyo. Campbell became a judo expert and was a member of the U.S. judo team in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. During the late 1960′s and the 1970′s, he built a successful business as a jewelry designer and jewelry maker and became a resident of Colorado.

Campbell was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1982. He served from 1983 until 1986, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He won reelection to the U.S. House in 1988 and 1990. In 1992, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and he took office in 1993. He was reelected in 1998.

In 2004, Campbell announced that because of concerns about his health he would not seek reelection that year to the Senate. His final term as senator ended in January 2005.

December 9, 2016

One of the heroes of the early Space Age is gone. United States astronaut and Senator John Glenn died yesterday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 95. He was the first American to orbit Earth, on Feb. 20, 1962.

Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. in his Mercury spacesuit, February 1962.
Credit: NASA

John Herschel Glenn, Jr., was born on July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, Ohio. He grew up in New Concord, Ohio. He became a pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in both World War II (1939-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953). After the wars, he served as a test pilot for new supersonic aircraft, which travel faster than the speed of sound. In 1959, he was chosen to be one of the first seven National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts. Being the oldest of the group, he actively lobbied to be the first American sent into space, but the honor instead went to Alan Shepard.

At the start of the 1960’s, it was clear that the United States was losing the space race. The space race was a period of intense competition between the United States and the Soviet Union (a powerful state made up of what is now Russia and several other surrounding countries) to achieve supremacy in space exploration. The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in 1957, several months before the United States launched its first satellite, Explorer 1. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human space traveler by orbiting Earth in his spaceship Vostok (later called Vostok 1). Two U.S. flights followed that year, but neither Alan Shepard nor the next American astronaut, Virgil (Gus) Grissom, orbited Earth. The flights were short, lasting only about 15 minutes.

Glenn orbited Earth three times during his historic flight. He was probably the first human being to “fly” a spacecraft manually for any length of time. During the flight, the autopilot malfunctioned, causing the spacecraft to tilt to the right. Glenn held the spacecraft in its proper position for the rest of the flight using the vehicle’s manual controls.

Glenn’s flight brought confidence back to the U.S. space program and made him a national hero. Spurred on by its own success and the continued advances of the Soviet Union, NASA surged ahead in the space race, putting U.S. astronauts on the moon less than 10 years after Glenn’s orbital flight. Glenn’s fame likely cost him his career as an astronaut, however. He was eager to fly in more missions, but U.S. President John F. Kennedy deemed his value as a national hero too great to risk another dangerous spaceflight. Frustrated, Glenn resigned from NASA in 1964.

After he left NASA, Glenn decided to go into politics. He won election to the Senate from Ohio in 1974. In the Senate, Glenn worked to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and was a supporter of providing federal aid to industries suffering from financial problems, such as the steel and automobile industries. Glenn campaigned for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out early in the race. He continued to serve as a senator until 1998.

Glenn’s wish to return to space was finally granted in 1998, when he traveled aboard the space shuttle Discovery. During the flight, he took part in experiments dealing with physical problems experienced by astronauts in space and elderly people on Earth. Glenn was 77 years old at the time of the mission, making him the oldest person ever to take part in space travel.

As a fighter pilot in two wars, an astronaut in two missions 36 years apart, and a senator for 24 years, Glenn leaves behind a towering legacy of service to his country matched by few people in U.S. history. His humility and patriotism impressed everyone he met. Glenn was an American hero, the likes of which may never be seen again.

Back in Time article

• Space exploration (1998)

June 28, 2013

The United States Senate yesterday passed a major overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws with broad bipartisan support. The vote was 68-to-32, with 14 Republicans joining the entire Democratic caucus voting in favor.

The legislation provides a 13-year path to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants. It also includes tough border security provisions that must be realized before the immigrants can gain legal status. These provisions require the addition of 20,000 more border agents; 700 miles (1,125 kilometers) of fence along the boundary with Mexico; and the deployment of $3.2 billion in technology upgrades along the border.

United States Border Patrol members ride all-terrain vehicles near El Paso, Texas, along the border with Mexico, looking for signs of illegal immigration and other crimes. Juarez, Mexico, rises in the background. (© Jim Young, Reuters/Landov)

Political experts suggest that the legislation will meet with major opposition in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. House Speaker John Boehner has stated that whatever immigration measure his chamber takes up would have to be supported by a majority of his Republican conference. The so-called Tea Party members of the House have voiced their opposition to any road to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants.

Additional World Book articles:

• Immigration and Customs Service, United States
• Immigration and Naturalization Service
• Immigration: The Latest Wave (a special report)
• Immigration Politics (a special report)
• Tempest in a Tea Party (a special report)

December 27, 2012

Hawaii’s former lieutenant governor, Brian Schatz, was sworn in today as a United States senator at a ceremony at the capitol in Washington, D.C. Schatz was appointed to that position by the governor of Hawaii, Neil Abercrombie.

Daniel K. Inouye, who died on December 17, had been a member of the United States Senate since 1963. Inouye, a Democrat, represented Hawaii. Inouye was the first Asian American to serve in both houses of the U.S. Congress. (U.S. Senate)

A rising political star in Hawaii, Schatz assumes the seat of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, who died on December 17. A towering figure in Hawaii who helped forge the state’s identity since statehood in 1959, Inouye first served in the Senate in 1963 and was the most senior member of that body at the time of his death. Inouye had also served in the Senate longer than any other member except Robert Byrd, who died in 2010.

During World War II (1939-1945), Inouye served in France and Italy and lost his right arm in the fighting. In 2000, 55 years after the end of the war, Inouye received the Medal of Honor, the highest military award given by the United States government, along with 19 other Nisei servicemen who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. (Nisei were U.S.-born children of Japanese immigrants.) The men were believed to have been denied proper recognition of their bravery during the war due to their race.

Additional World Book articles:

• Japanese American internment
• Medals, decorations, and orders
• Congress of the United States 1959 (a Back in Time article)

April 24, 2012

Utah Republicans denied U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch an outright nomination for re-election by a few dozen votes at a convention with nearly 4,000 delegates in attendance on April 21 in Sandy, Utah. He will face former state Senator Dan Liljenquist, a Tea Party favorite, in the primary election in June. The primary challenge is Hatch’s first in many years. He is Utah’s longest-serving senator, having been in the Senate for six terms.

Orrin Hatch (U.S. Senate)

Richard G. Lugar (U.S. Senate)

FreedomWorks, part of the Tea Party movement, spent more than $700,000 through a super PAC to defeat Hatch, who it claimed is insufficiently conservative. The Tea Party movement solidified its presence as a force with Utah’s Republican Party in 2010 when it helped orchestrate the defeat of three-term Senator Bob Bennett, who Tea Party activists claimed was too cooperative with Democrats.

Tea Party activists are also trying to unseat another long-time incumbent Republican–Richard Lugar of Indiana, who has also served six six-year terms. Considered an expert on foreign policy and international affairs, Lugar is accused of paying insufficient attention to his Indiana constituents.

Additional World Book articles:

• Republican Party 2010 (Back in Time article)
• Tempest in a Tea Party (a special report)