Until Kamala Harris became vice president in 2021, Hawaii’s U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye was the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in U.S. history.

Inouye was a remarkable American hero and his life should be remembered — especially this year, which marks 100 years since his birth in Honolulu in 1924.

This column is a postscript to an interview I had with Inouye in his Washington, D.C., office more than 10 years ago.

Inouye was recalling senators he had known and served with. Those with a long political history had become political powers in their own states with the expected accolades, including having public structures named for them.

Inouye, described by the local press as “a monumental force in Hawaii politics,” was the one person that any aspiring local political wannabe would talk to first before launching a political campaign. A campaign brochure with Inouye was an invaluable endorsement.

Privately, Inouye tried to tamp down the political fawning. He was allergic to flowers, so he shunned leis; also aides said he ducked having things named after him. Inouye himself explained that it was for a very pragmatic reason.

After so many decades in Congress, Inouye knew that everything in Washington was a trade, nothing is given for free. Those honoring you today will be back with requests and pleas for help later. The more you get, the more you will have to give later. In an off-the-record chat, Inouye mentioned Senate leaders who had bridges, memorials, highways and libraries named after them, only to discover that those honors came with a price. It was along the line of: “If you love your new library, help me pass this tax bill.”

During his life, Inouye would tamp down the naming ceremonies — but after his passing in December 2012, the naming began in earnest. The list of things named for Inouye include Honolulu’s main airport, the University of Hawaii’s school of pharmacy in Hilo, a U.S. Navy destroyer plus the largest container ship ever built in the U.S.

The Big Island’s Saddle Road was renamed for Inouye. Also there is a Daniel K. Inouye elementary school and Kauai’s Kilauea Point Lighthouse now bears the Inouye name.

Inouye would chuckle to learn that the honorific construction names include a telephone booth.

It hasn’t been exactly located yet, but the September edition newsletter of the Inouye Institute describes how a bronze statue of Inouye calling his office from an airport payphone is planned to show his workaholic style.

“When we dropped Senator off at the Honolulu International Airport (which now bears his name), he would check in, proceed to the United Terminal, and call us on one of the pay phones as he waited for his flight to be called. He did it for years, like clockwork,” the newsletter explained. The statue has Inouye wearing a windbreaker smiling as he sits in a phone booth with a receiver gripped in his left hand.

“Here is a sneak peek of ‘DKI’ being placed in one of the reconstituted phone booths in the United Terminal. We also had a bronze pay phone made (we may need to add a small plaque describing what it is for the youngsters!). There is enough room on the bench for you to sit, ‘talk story,’ and take a selfie, too.”

In the newsletter, former Inouye assistant Jennifer Sabas, now director of the Daniel K. Inouye Institute Foundation, is featured with the statue while Inouye makes a call.

The airport exhibit also has a portion of Inouye’s office.

I have always been a fan of presidential libraries with the replications of the Oval Office, but certificates on the wall will never represent Inouye. The statue of him sitting in a phone booth doggedly working is a more honest portrayal.