Childhood & Early Life:
Alan Simpson was born on 2nd September 1931, to the former Governor of Wyoming, Milward L. Simpson and Lorna Kooi, in the Denver region of Colorado.
He completed his schooling from institutions such as ‘Cody High School’ in Wyoming and ‘Cranbrook School’, located at Michigan. He then pursued his graduation in Science at the ‘University of Wyoming’ in Laramie, which he completed in the year 1954.
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Career
During the period 1954-56, he served in the ‘Fifth Infantry Division’, ‘Tenth Infantry Regiment’ and Twelfth Armoured Infantry Battalion’ of the ‘United States Army’.
He then pursued his studies graduated in Law from the ‘University of Wyoming (UW) Law School’ in 1958, and soon after practiced law in the Cody region as a member of the ‘Wyoming Bar Association’.
In 1958, he was appointed as the Assistant Attorney General of Wyoming and he served in this capacity for a year.
From 1959 to 1969, this politician served as the City Attorney of Cody, Wyoming.
He also served as the president of the ‘UW Alumni Association’ for a year. He then, became a member of the ‘Wyoming House of Representative’ during the period 1964-77.
In November 1978, he was appointed as a Senator from Wyoming to the ‘United States Senate’ and he joined office at the beginning of the following year, after the former Senator resigned. He resumed the office of the Senator for two more terms.
During 1981-85, he chaired the ‘Veterans’ Affairs Committee’. He then operated as a Whip of the Republican Party for about ten years, and assisted Bob Dole, the then Republic leader, in handling the works of the party. He was succeeded by Trent Lott as the Whip.
He again served as the chairperson of the ‘Veteran Affairs Committee’ from 1995 to 1997, after the Republican Party gained power in the Senate.
This leader was also the chairman of many other Organizations such as the ‘Social Security Subcommittee’, ‘Immigration and Refugee Subcommittee of Judiciary’, ‘Committee on Aging’ and the ‘Nuclear Regulation Subcommittee’.
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After retiring from his political career, Simpson joined the ‘”Joan Shorenstein Center’ of the ‘John F. Kennedy School of Government’ in Cambridge as a guest lecturer in 1997.
He was also appointed at the ‘John F. Kennedy School of Government’ as the Director of the ‘Institute of Politics’.
In the year 2000, he started practising law in Wyoming along with his two sons Colin and William. The next year, he was elected as the Commissioner of the ‘American Battle Monuments Commission’.
He headed the UW capital campaign ‘Distinction’, which became a great success as the campaign collected funds worth $204 million. An event was organized to celebrate this achievement.
He became the Co-Chairperson of the ‘Continuity of Government Commission’ in 2002 which was established the same year, to provide input for improving statutory and constitutional provisions in the US. This former Senator sometimes engages in teaching at the ‘University of Wyoming’.
Personal Life & Legacy:
Alan Simpson is married to Susan Ann Schroll since 1954, and the couple has two sons named Colin and William.
His son Colin too had worked for the ‘Wyoming House of Representatives’ as a member of the Republican Party.
In 1997, he penned his book entitled ‘Right in the Old Gazoo: A Lifetime of Scrapping with the Press’