List of governors of Hawaii facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Governor of Hawaii Gubernatorial standard Incumbent Josh Green since December 5, 2022 Residence Washington Place Term length Four years, renewable once Precursor Governor of Hawaii Territory Inaugural holder William F. Quinn Formation August 21, 1959 (65 years ago) (1959-08-21) Deputy Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Flag of the governor Flag of the governor before Hawaii became a state in 1959

The governor of the State of Hawaii is like the top leader of the state of Hawaii. They are in charge of the state government and also lead Hawaii's military forces, called the Hawaii National Guard.

The governor has several important jobs:

• They make sure that state laws are followed.
• They can approve or reject (veto) new laws that the Hawaii Legislature wants to pass.
• They can call the Legislature together for special meetings.
• They can also grant pardons, which means forgiving someone for a crime, except in very serious cases like treason.

Since Hawaii became a state, eight people have served as governor. Some governors have served for two terms, and two have even served for three terms. No governor of Hawaii has ever resigned or passed away while in office.

An interesting fact is that George Ariyoshi was the first Asian American to become a governor in any U.S. state. The current governor is Josh Green, who started his term on December 5, 2022.

The governors who served the longest were John A. Burns (from 1962 to 1974) and George Ariyoshi (from 1974 to 1986). Both of them served for 12 years each.

Hawaii's Journey to Statehood

Before Hawaii became a U.S. state, it had a different history. The Republic of Hawaii was a country on its own. In 1898, the United States took control of Hawaii, a process called annexation.

Then, in 1900, Hawaii became a U.S. Territory. This meant it was part of the U.S. but not yet a full state. Finally, in 1959, Hawaii officially became the 50th U.S. state.

Governors of Hawaii Territory

For 59 years, Hawaii was a U.S. Territory. During this time, the governors were not elected by the people of Hawaii. Instead, they were chosen and appointed by the president of the United States. Twelve different people served as territorial governors.

The first territorial governor was Sanford B. Dole. He had also been the only president of the Republic of Hawaii before it became a U.S. Territory.

Governors of the Territory of Hawaii

No.	Governor		Term in office	Appointed by
1		Sanford B. Dole (1844–1926)	June 14, 1900 – November 23, 1903 (resigned)	McKinley, WilliamWilliam McKinley
2		George R. Carter (1866–1933)	November 23, 1903 – August 15, 1907 (resigned)	Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt
3		Walter F. Frear (1863–1948)	August 15, 1907 – November 29, 1913 (successor appointed)	Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt
4		Lucius E. Pinkham (1850–1922)	November 29, 1913 – June 22, 1918 (successor appointed)	Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson
5		Charles J. McCarthy (1861–1929)	June 22, 1918 – July 5, 1921 (successor appointed)	Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson
6		Wallace Rider Farrington (1871–1933)	July 5, 1921 – July 5, 1929 (successor appointed)	Harding, Warren G.Warren G. Harding
				Coolidge, CalvinCalvin Coolidge
7		Lawrence M. Judd (1887–1968)	July 5, 1929 – March 1, 1934 (successor appointed)	Hoover, HerbertHerbert Hoover
8		Joseph Poindexter (1869–1951)	March 1, 1934 – August 24, 1942 (successor appointed)	Roosevelt, Franklin D.Franklin D. Roosevelt
9		Ingram Stainback (1883–1961)	August 24, 1942 – April 30, 1951 (resigned)	Roosevelt, Franklin D.Franklin D. Roosevelt
				Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman
10		Oren E. Long (1889–1965)	May 8, 1951 – February 28, 1953 (successor appointed)	Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman
11		Samuel Wilder King (1886–1959)	February 28, 1953 – August 29, 1957 (resigned)	Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight D. Eisenhower
12		William F. Quinn (1919–2006)	September 2, 1957 – August 21, 1959 (elected state governor)	Eisenhower, Dwight D.Dwight D. Eisenhower

Governors of the State of Hawaii

Hawaii officially became a U.S. state on August 21, 1959. Since then, the people of Hawaii have elected their own governors. There have been nine governors of the State of Hawaii so far.

The governor is elected for a four-year term. They can serve for a maximum of two terms in a row. The lieutenant governor is elected at the same time and on the same ballot as the governor. If the governor's office becomes empty, the lieutenant governor steps in as governor. If the governor is away from the state or can't do their job, the lieutenant governor takes over temporarily.

Governors of the State of Hawaii

No.	Governor			Term of office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor
1			William F. Quinn (1919–2006)	August 21, 1959 – December 3, 1962 (lost election)	Republican	1959		Kealoha, JamesJames Kealoha
2			John A. Burns (1909–1975)	December 3, 1962 – December 2, 1974 (did not run)	Democratic	1962		Richardson, William S.William S. Richardson (resigned April 13, 1966)
								Ing, Andrew T.F.Andrew T.F. Ing
						1966		Gill, ThomasThomas Gill
						1970		Ariyoshi, GeorgeGeorge Ariyoshi
3			George Ariyoshi (b. 1926)	December 2, 1974 – December 1, 1986 (term-limited)	Democratic	1974		Doi, NelsonNelson Doi
						1978		King, JeanJean King
						1982		Waiheʻe III, John D.John D. Waiheʻe III
4			John D. Waiheʻe III (b. 1946)	December 1, 1986 – December 5, 1994 (term-limited)	Democratic	1986		Cayetano, BenBen Cayetano
						1990
5			Ben Cayetano (b. 1939)	December 5, 1994 – December 2, 2002 (term-limited)	Democratic	1994		Hirono, MazieMazie Hirono
						1998
6			Linda Lingle (b. 1953)	December 2, 2002 – December 6, 2010 (term-limited)	Republican	2002		Aiona, DukeDuke Aiona
						2006
7			Neil Abercrombie (b. 1938)	December 6, 2010 – December 1, 2014 (lost nomination)	Democratic	2010		Schatz, BrianBrian Schatz (resigned December 26, 2012)
							Vacant
								Tsutsui, ShanShan Tsutsui (took office December 27, 2012) (resigned January 31, 2018)
8			David Ige (b. 1957)	December 1, 2014 – December 5, 2022 (term-limited)	Democratic	2014
							Vacant
								Chin, DougDoug Chin (took office February 2, 2018)
						2018		Green, JoshJosh Green
9			Josh Green (b. 1970)	December 5, 2022 – Incumbent	Democratic	2022		Luke, SylviaSylvia Luke

More About Hawaii's Leaders

If you're interested in other leaders in Hawaii, you can check out these lists:

• List of governors of Hawaii (island)
• List of governors of Maui
• List of governors of Oahu
• List of governors of Kauai
• List of Hawaii state legislatures