Why Does Senator Daniel Inouye Have Secret Service Protection?

Two old pros who worked on Watergate in 1974.

Answered via other questions and answers:

Q: who's next in the line of Presidential succession, after the Vice President and Speaker of the House?

A: The president pro tempore of the Senate.

Q: What does the president pro tempore do?

A: He* presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President, is the Senate's legal recipient of various reports, and serves on commissions and boards. (Obviously, the duties are largely ceremonial, but the office is third in line and it is in the Constitution.)

*Male singular pronoun used for convenience only.

Q: How is he elected?

A: "Since the mid-20th century, it has been traditional for the Senate to elect the senior member of the majority party as president pro tempore."

Q: Who is the current president pro tempore?

A. Daniel K. Inouye, 88-year-old Democratic Senator from Hawaii. We have posted about Medal of Honor recipient Senator Dan before (here and here).

Two sons of Hawaii grew up in the same middle-class neighborhood, albeit four decades apart, and are now important enough to be protected round-the-clock by the Secret Service. Last question: who would ever have believed it? © 2012 Stephen Yuen