I wished the Oklahoma Republican senator well in retirement and reminded him of a trip we took years ago when he was a freshman senator, and I was a rookie reporter.

The craggy conservative, James Inhofe, beamed: “You made my day.” He made me believe it was so.

It may not sound like much. But such a moment is scarcer all the time. The death of charm has come to the Capitol.

I remember days when senators exchanged smiles, stories, repartee and jests with each other and the press. Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy’s booming laugh could be heard by the statues. Sen. Bob Dole’s dry wit crackled like Kansas wheat in high summer.

Senators reached “across the aisle” to produce bipartisan legislation from time to time. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company. Sen. Robert C. Byrd was the rules enforcer, but also the voice of history, giving learned talks on the Roman Senate.

Once opposing Senate leaders, Tom Daschle and Trent Lott co-authored a book after they left the Senate.

By contrast, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, Calif., who resembles a callow fraternity man, barely spits out “Pelosi,” about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The death of charm is not a trivial loss in a field where both sides benefit from working together. Proverbial Senate “giants” flourish in warmer climates.

Fifty Senate Democrats could not get one Republican vote for the greatest investment in climate change ever, nor for the Build Back Better infrastructure bill. (Vice President Kamala Harris broke the ties.)

Politicians were once liked for their hearty handshakes, bonhomie and knowing your name. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was exhibit A in this repertoire.

I’ll never forget lunch with the Arizona senator and a press aide in the Senate dining room. Tapping the table, McCain demonstrated the Morse code used to contact other prisoners of war in the Hanoi Hilton.

Now the elegant Senate dining room is often empty.

Come January you’ll see what I “mean,” as Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia start their charmless offensive against Hunter Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other victims.

House Republicans, with a few exceptions, swim in former President Donald Trump’s school of haters. Check out Clay Higgins, R-La., if you dare.

Freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., takes the cake. On Jan. 6, 2021, her third day on the job, she spoke on the floor and all but threatened, “Madam Speaker (Pelosi), I have constituents outside this building right now.”

Among the younger Senate Republicans, without a scintilla of charm for the other side, an Ivy League superiority adds to their surly arrogance.

I’m talking to you, Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri. Cruz, a Princeton man, went on to Harvard Law School. Hawley was educated at Yale Law School.

They are inheritors of Trump’s earthy dirt.

We can’t be surprised at Trump’s new outrage, hosting Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier, and the rapper Ye, also a purveyor of hate talk aimed at Jewish people.

Shocked, but not surprised.

Since Trump entered the political stage in 2015 as a presidential candidate who personally cut down each opponent, nothing has been the same since.

The nasty tone Trump displayed as a contender against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, was just a foretaste.

Trump’s inaugural address — spoken with a scowl — warned of “American carnage.” Tarnishing that sacred ritual (sounding like a gangster) was the signal to poison the well for his myriad followers in Congress.

Trump’s racism and misogyny never rested as president. After he lost reelection, American carnage swarmed the Capitol in the armed mob he incited.

We’ve reached an inflection point where some Republicans court defying their party leadership: glowering Rand Paul, Rick Scott and veteran Lindsey Graham fit that bill.

Friends and foes agree, Pelosi and President Joe Biden (a creature of Congress) have some old-school charm. Sen. Mitch McConnell knows how to act as a Southern gentleman. They are all in their 80s.

The Senate Republican most capable of charm toward all 99 colleagues is Mitt Romney, 75, of Utah. Inhofe is a vigorous 88.

Note from the press gallery: don’t let charm go out with the old.

Jamie Stiehm may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. Follow her on Twitter @JamieStiehm.

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