Inhofe was born in Des Moines, Iowa, but he moved with his family to Oklahoma when he was a child. He served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1956. Several years later he became president of the Quaker Life Insurance company. By the mid 1960s, however, he had entered politics. He was a member of the Oklahoma state House of Representatives from 1967 until 1969, when he became a state senator. He was a member of the state senate until 1977. During this time he lost two elections to other positions. He ran for governor of Oklahoma in 1974 and was defeated by his democratic opponent, David Boren, and in 1976 Inhofe lost an election for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Inhofe's political career revived in 1978 when he was elected mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was mayor from 1978 until 1984. In 1986 he tried again for a seat in the House of Representatives, and this time won. He was a member of the House from 1987 until 1994, being elected every two years. He resigned when he was elected to the United States Senate in a November 1994 special election required by the resignation of David Boren, who had become a senator soon after his time as governor. Inhofe was elected to a full term in 1996 and reelected in 2002.