There are few people in Wyoming politics who have loomed larger than former U.S. Sen. Al Simpson.
At 6’7” tall, Simpson was known for his sense of humor and often joked that his time as a student athlete at the University of Wyoming prepared him for a career in politics. He died Friday at age 93.
Watch the video:
However, it’s not his stature that most will remember.
“I have interviewed many people at high levels, presidents, vice presidents, senators, and others, and none are more fascinating than Al Simpson,” said Penny Preston, an MTN contributor and Cody journalist.
Preston has not only interviewed Simpson extensively over the course of her career, but she also credits Simpson with bringing her to Wyoming. In 1998, Preston says Simpson convinced her husband, Chuck Preston, to help create the Draper Museum of Natural History.
“I don't know anyone else who has influenced my life and guided me more than Al Simpson,” said Chuck Preston.
Watch Alan Simpson's family remember him:
His family, including his wife, Ann, of 72 years, and his children, sat down with MTN News in Cody to discuss his legacy.
“To see two people in today's world who have that kind of connection. And everybody should have a life partner that way,” said Bill Simpson, Alan’s son, of his parents' marriage. “Because life is very difficult and challenging particularly today. But these two. They're a life lesson for how you ought to do it.”
Bill Simpson is a district court judge in Park County.
The Simpson children say their mom kept their dad in line.
“He was so big and... he was funny,” said Ann Simpson. “He had that broken nose that was sort of like Bob Hope, that when he came in the room people smiled because they knew it would be laugh. He loved making people laugh.”
“He was intellectually curious,” said Susan Simpson Gallagher, Alan’s daughter, who owns an art gallery in Cody. “But personally curious about others. That's what made him so great. He always wanted to know about you. And he wanted to know about your kids. And he remembered everybody's kids' names. And he remembered their kids' names. And he didn't remember their dog's names so much. But he cared.”
And that’s something all three Simpson children admired about their dad.
“Dad was the citizen of the world,” said Colin Simpson, who served in the Wyoming Legislature for 12 years.. “He never met a stranger. And if you went somewhere with dad and no one recognized him, he'd introduce himself so he could talk to someone.”
Simpson, a lifelong Republican, was close friends with George H.W. Bush, and even delivered the eulogy at the 41st president's funeral.
Simpson’s lasting legacy was perhaps his ability to bridge partisan gaps. He was also a friend to many influential Democrats, including Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
Simpson served three terms as a U.S. senator from 1979 to 1997. The son of Wyoming Gov. Milward Simpson, Al credited his Wyoming upbringing for his strong moral compass.
“He would never be hateful no matter how strong his opinion was,” said Penny Preston.
Simpson never wavered from that moral compass, even though it may have cost him a chance at even higher office.
"He could have been vice president had he backed down from his belief that a woman had a right to choose,” said Preston. “He always said male legislators shouldn’t even be able to vote on the issue.”
Simpson also served 56 years on the board of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, and just last year at the age of 92, he co-created the Simpson-Mineta Institute at Heart Mountain, helping preserve the stories of 14,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned there during World War II.
Simpson is being remembered and honored as a man who left a legacy in the Cowboy state and far beyond.
“This country is going to lose a great legend. I have so much respect for him and we will miss him,” said Preston.
