Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) has passed away.

He was 93.

“Simpson spent the last days of his life at the Spirit Mountain Hospice House in Cody after suffering serious circulation problems in his feet and legs and resulting complications,” Cowboy State Daily wrote.

He also suffered a broken hip in December.

From the Associated Press:

A political moderate by current standards, Simpson’s three terms as senator from 1979 to 1997 covered the Republican Party’s rejuvenation under President Ronald Reagan. Simpson played a key role rallying GOP senators around the party’s legislative agenda as a top Senate leader during that time.

Simpson was better known for holding his own views, though, with sometimes caustic certainty. A deficit hawk with sharp descriptions of people who relied on government assistance, Simpson supported abortion rights — an example of moderation that contributed to his fade in the GOP.

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His Democratic friends included Robert Reich, labor secretary under President Bill Clinton, and Norman Mineta, transportation secretary under President George W. Bush.

Simpson and Mineta met as Boy Scouts when Mineta and his family were imprisoned as Japanese-Americans in the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center near Simpson’s hometown of Cody, Wyoming, during World War II.

After leaving politics, both promoted awareness of the incarceration of some 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry in camps during the war. Mineta, who died in 2022, recalled that Simpson once was asked what was the biggest difference between them as a Republican and a Democrat.

“Laura and I are saddened by the loss of our family’s dear friend, Senator Alan Simpson. Alan was one of the finest public servants ever to have graced our nation’s capital. He was a formidable Senator, representing Wyoming well and emerging as an important national leader. Even after retiring from the Senate, Alan continued to answer the call to serve whenever it came, including on the Iraq Study Group and the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform,” George W. Bush said in a statement.

“My family will remember him best not for his many accomplishments, but for his loyal friendship – and sharp sense of humor. When eulogizing my dad at the National Cathedral, Alan quipped, ‘Those who travel the high road of humility in Washington, D.C., are not bothered by heavy traffic.’ Laura and I join my brothers and sister in remembering this humble, funny, strong man, and we send our condolences to Ann and the Simpson family,” he added.

Per Cowboy State Daily:

Simpson, the son of former governor and U.S. Sen. Milward Simpson, grew up in Cody. Known as a bit of a troublemaker in his youth, he quickly cast aside his wild side and joined the Army after graduating from the University of Wyoming. Standing 6-foot-7, he also played on the UW basketball team.

“It was the first time in my life that I couldn’t bullshit my way out of anything,” Simpson remarked to Cowboy State Daily in an interview last summer. “They have a way of doing that in the Army.”

When Simpson returned, he finished out law school and became an attorney in 1958. Before his death, he was one of the longest serving dues-paying attorney in Wyoming.

Working as campaign manager for his father’s successful 1962 campaign for U.S. Senate is where Simpson said he first caught the political bug. He told Ann afterward that he thought he could do it himself.

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