The three-term Republican senator, who would be the center of bipartisan efforts in the upper chamber has died.
Former Sen. Alan Simpson was 93 years old.
He died on Friday while having issues recovering from a broken hip, an injury he sustained in December, his family said in a statement.
Simpson died surrounded by his family and friends, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, where he served as a board member for 56 years, said in a news release.
His family said his recovery was hampered by frostbite damage he had on his left foot from five years ago. His leg had to be amputated below the knee, the center said.
Simpson, according to The Associated Press, was known for his humor, saying at one point, “We have two political parties in this country, the Stupid Party and the Evil Party. I belong to the Stupid Party.”
The AP called him “a political moderate by current standards” who served from 1979 until 1997.
The Washington Post wrote about Simpson after his freshman year on the hill, “Simpson turns out to be one of those refreshing breezes that occasionally gentles their way through the congressional pomp and fustian to remind that all is not lost.”
He was part of the rebirth of the Republican Party during Ronald Reagan’s term. Simpson served as the GOP whip.
He worked with Democrats like former labor secretary Robert Reich and former transportation secretary Norman Mineta.
The former knew Simpson when they were in Boy Scouts and Mineta was imprisoned with his family as Japanese-Americans in the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center near Cody, Wyoming, during World War II. Simpson grew up in Cody.
After leaving their political career the pair worked on promoting the awareness of the internment camps that held 120,000 people with Japanese ancestry.
Mineta, when asked what Simpson said the difference was between the two as a Republican and Democrat, answered simply, “Alan thought about it and he said, ‘Well, I wear size 15 shoes and he wears a size 8 and a half.’” Mineta died in 2022.
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd once said that Simpson was “one of the most accomplished legislative craftsman to ever to grace” the Capitol.
He backed abortion rights and gay rights, but was fiscally conservative and wanted to limit the scope of the government.
“You have to learn how to compromise on an issue without compromising yourself,” he said.
Simpson worked closely with former President Barack Obama when in 2010 he asked the former senator to help lead a debt-reduction commission to save $4 trillion through tax hikes and spending cuts. The plan, however, did not have the support of Congress at the time.
Simpson came from a political family. His father Milward served his state as governor, U.S. senator and state legislator. His mother Lorna Kooi was president of the local chapter of the Red Cross and was on the planning commission.
After graduating from Cody High School and the University of Wyoming, he joined the Army in 1954, serving in the Fifth Infantry Division and the Second Armored “Hell on Wheels” division in Germany.
When he left the Army, he earned his law degree and joined his father’s practice. Simpson was elected to the Wyoming House in 1964, serving until he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976.
He was on several committees including the Immigration Sub Committee and the Veterans Affairs Committee.
Simpson did not agree with sentences of life without parole for juveniles, saying that sentences should be reviewed.
“When they get to be 30 or 40 and they been in the clink for 20 years, or 30 or 40, and they have learned how to read and how to do things, why not?” Simpson told the AP in 2009.
He used to call politics a “contact sport” and had tough words for those who couldn’t handle the life.
“I’ve been called everything. What the hell? If you don’t like the combat, get out,” he said in 2003.
He did just that in 1995 when he decided not to run for reelection.
“Part of me said I could do this for another three or four years but not six,” he said. “The old fire in the belly is out. The edge is off.”
He went on to teach about politics and the media at both Harvard and his alma mater.
In 2022, President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work on campaign finance reform, responsible governance and marriage equality.
“He was an uncommonly generous man,” his older brother Pete Simpson said. “And I mean generous in an absolutely unconditional way. Giving of his time, giving of his energy — and he did it in politics and he did it in the family, forever.”
He and his wife Ann just celebrated their 70th anniversary last year.
Simpson leaves behind his wife, brother, two sons and a daughter.
© 2025 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
