Ron Wyden, a Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tor from Ore­gon, served in the U.S. House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives from 1981 until his 1995 elec­tion to the U.S. Sen­ate. Ore­go­ni­ans — and all atten­tive Amer­i­cans — know Wyden as a sen­a­tor who lis­tens and inno­vates. The son of two refugees from Nazi Ger­many, he was born in Wichi­ta and lived in Chica­go, St. Louis, and Wash­ing­ton D.C., as his father Peter Wyden, a jour­ney­man jour­nal­ist and lat­er a best-sell­ing author, pur­sued his career and curiosity.