Samuel Wilder King

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This article is about the Governor of Hawaii. For the Governor of Rhode Island, see Samuel Ward King. For other people named Samuel King, see Samuel King (disambiguation).
Samuel Wilder King
Samuel Wilder King (PP-74-9-002).jpg
Samuel Wilder King
11th Territorial Governor of Hawaii
In office
February 28, 1953 – July 26, 1957
Appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by Oren E. Long
Succeeded by William F. Quinn
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii Territory's At-large district
In office
January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943
Preceded by Lincoln Loy McCandless
Succeeded by Joseph Rider Farrington
Personal details
Born December 17, 1886
Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii
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Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
Political party Republican

Samuel Wilder King (December 17, 1886 – March 24, 1959) was the eleventh Territorial Governor of Hawaii and served from 1953 to 1957. He was appointed to the office after the term of Oren E. Long. Previously, King served in the United States House of Representatives as a delegate from the Territory of Hawaii. He was a member of the Republican Party of Hawaii and was the first of native Hawaiian descent to rise to the highest office in the territory.

Education

His father James A. King (1832–1899) was a ship's master for Samuel Gardner Wilder, and later politician in the Republic of Hawaii.[1] His mother was Charlotte Holmes Davis, daughter of Robert Grimes Davis, who descend from Oliver Holmes, Governor of Oʻahu under Kamehameha I. King was born December 17, 1886 in Honolulu and was a subject of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. A devout Roman Catholic, King attended Saint Louis School, but graduated from McKinley High School. Upon graduating, King went on to study at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He entered the United States Navy as a commissioned officer where he served from 1910 to 1924. At the time of his discharge, he had attained the rank of lieutenant commander. On March 18, 1912 he married Pauline Nawahineokalai Evans, another part-Hawaiian.[2]

Early career

King returned to his hometown in 1925 where he entered the real estate profession. In 1932, he ran for his first public office and served for two years on the Board of Supervisors of Honolulu. In 1934, King was elected to the United States Congress as a delegate. He served in Washington, D.C. from January 1935 to January 1943.[3] With the outbreak of World War II, King resigned from Congress to accept a naval commission to become a commander, then captain. He retired from military service in 1946.

Later career

Once again, King returned to his hometown and was appointed to a sub-cabinet office of the governor's administration. King served in the Emergency Housing Committee for a year. He was then appointed to the Hawaii Statehood Commission in 1947 where he stayed until 1953.[3] President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed King to the governorship that year. He was the first governor of Hawaiian ancestry. He served in 'Iolani Palace until his resignation on July 31, 1957. During his term in office he signed HB 706 on June 5, 1957 which outlawed the death penalty in Hawaii. It became Act 282. He died in Honolulu March 24, 1959, just before Hawaii achieved statehood. He was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

His son Samuel Pailthorpe King (1916–2010) became a lawyer and Federal Judge.[4] His grandson, Samuel Pailthorpe King, Jr. also became a lawyer and in 1985 established his own law practice with his wife, Adrienne King, also a lawyer, as King and King, Attorneys-At-Law. Their youngest son, Samuel Wilder King II, named after his great-grandfather, is also a lawyer now practicing in Honolulu.

References

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United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from Hawaii Territory's at-large congressional district
January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943		 Succeeded by
Joseph Rider Farrington
Political offices
Preceded by Territorial Governor of Hawaii
February 28, 1953 – July 26, 1957		 Succeeded by
William F. Quinn
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