John D. Waiheʻe III

Template:Short description Template:BLP sources Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder John David WaiheTemplate:Okinae III (born May 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the fourth governor of Hawaii from 1986 to 1994. He was the first American of Native Hawaiian descent to be elected to the office from any state of the United States. After his tenure in the governor's office, WaiheTemplate:Okinae became a nationally prominent attorney and lobbyist.

Personal life and education

WaiheTemplate:Okinae was born in [[Honokaa, Hawaii|HonokaTemplate:Okinaa]] on the Island of Hawaii. Upon graduating from Hawaiian Mission Academy, WaiheTemplate:Okinae attended classes at Andrews University in Michigan. There he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degrees in both business and history. He moved to Honolulu to attend the newly established William S. Richardson School of Law at the [[University of Hawaii at Manoa|University of HawaiTemplate:Okinai at Mānoa]]. He obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 1976. WaiheTemplate:Okinae is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He married Lynne Kobashigawa and one of his sons, John Waiheʻe IV, is a statewide elected official on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees (first elected in 2000).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Politics

WaiheTemplate:Okinae started his political career as a delegate to the [[1978 Hawaii State Constitutional Convention|1978 HawaiTemplate:Okinai State Constitutional Convention]] where he was instrumental in the creation of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the adoption of the Hawaiian language as an official language of the state. He later served one term as a Democratic member of the [[Hawaii State House of Representatives|HawaiTemplate:Okinai State House of Representatives]] from 1981 to 1983. WaiheTemplate:Okinae was elected lieutenant governor of Hawaii under Governor George Ariyoshi, serving in that capacity until 1986. In 2008 WaiheTemplate:Okinae served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2011, WaiheTemplate:Okinae was appointed by Governor Neil Abercrombie to the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, established by Act 195. WaiheTemplate:Okinae sits as the only Commissioner At-Large. In the following year, the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission actively began working on fulfilling its mandate to bring the Native Hawaiian people together by enrolling with the commission. This effort is now referred to as Kanaʻiolowalu.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Commissioner WaiheTemplate:Okinae is featured in an 11-part series of Frequently Asked Questions videos about Kanaʻiolowalu.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The video footage was recorded on the campus of the William S. Richardson School of Law in the presence of a live audience composed primarily of law school students and faculty.

He pushed the state of Hawaii to adopt Hawaiian as an official language. He's proud of helping build Kapolei as Oahu's second city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Governorship

Waihe'e as governor.

WaiheTemplate:Okinae with President Bill Clinton in April 1993

WaiheTemplate:Okinae successfully ran for the governor's office sharing a ticket with state senator Ben Cayetano. Cayetano became WaiheTemplate:Okinae's lieutenant governor for two terms; both were re-elected in 1990. During much of his term, HawaiTemplate:Okinai experienced a boom in the tourism industry and increased foreign investment, especially from Japan. The issue of Hawaiian sovereignty also took on increased importance as the centennial anniversary of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (when [[Liliuokalani|Queen LiliTemplate:Okinauokalani]] was deposed) occurred. WaiheTemplate:Okinae left office in 1994, having served the maximum two terms in office as permitted by the [[Constitution of Hawaii|Constitution of HawaiTemplate:Okinai]] that he had helped to author. His lieutenant governor won the election to succeed WaiheTemplate:Okinae.

Retirement

Waiheʻe in June 2016

After leaving the governor's office, WaiheTemplate:Okinae worked for various national-scope law firms based in Washington, DC. He also opened a private law practice and lobbying firm. In two special elections held in November 2002 and January 2003, WaiheTemplate:Okinae considered running for the United States House of Representatives seat left open by the death of Patsy Mink on September 28, 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Under Hawaiian election law, it was too late to remove the name of Patsy Mink from the November 2002 General Election ballot, and consequently Mink was posthumously re-elected. WaiheTemplate:Okinae dropped out of both special election contests and endorsed the candidacy of Mink's widower.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Hawaii
• List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States

External links

• Template:C-SPAN

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