George Ryoichi Ariyoshi ( ja, 有吉良一, born March 12, 1926) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the third

governor of Hawaii , insignia = Logo of the Office of the Governor of Hawaii.png , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Gubernatorial logo , flag = Flag of the Governor of Hawaii.svg , flagborder = yes , flagcaption = Standard of the Governor , image ...

from 1974 to 1986. A Democrat, he is Hawaii's longest-serving governor and the first American of Asian descent to serve as governor of a U.S. state. He assumed gubernatorial powers and duties when Governor John A. Burns was declared incapacitated in October 1973 and was elected in 1974 (assuming governorship December 1974), becoming the first Asian-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state or territory. His lengthy tenure is a record likely to remain unbroken due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

enacted after he left office. Ariyoshi is now considered an elder statesman of the

Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii ( haw, ʻAoʻao Demokalaka o Hawaiʻi) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention ...

Early life

Ariyoshi was born in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

, then in the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

, to Japanese immigrant parents, who named him after

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

. Ariyoshi graduated in 1944 from McKinley High School. As

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

drew to a close, he served as an interpreter with the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Military Intelligence Service The Military Intelligence Service ( ja, アメリカ陸軍情報部, ''America Rikugun Jōhōbu'') was a World War II U.S. military unit consisting of two branches, the Japanese American unit (described here) and the German-Austrian unit based ...

in Japan. Upon returning stateside, he first attended the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a public land-grant research university in Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the flagship campus of the University of Haw ...

, then transferred to

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949. He then went on to receive his J.D. degree from the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...

in 1952.

Political career

Ariyoshi's political career began in 1954 when he was elected to the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives. He was later elected to the Hawaii Territorial Senate in 1958, then to the

Hawaii State Senate The Hawaii Senate is the upper house of the Hawaii State Legislature. It consists of twenty-five members elected from an equal number of constituent districts across the islands and is led by the President of the Senate, elected from the memb ...

in 1959. He served in the senate until 1970 when he ran for and was elected

lieutenant governor of Hawaii The lieutenant governor of Hawaii ( haw, Hope kiaʻāina o Hawaiʻi) is the assistant chief executive of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Article V, Sections 2 though 6 of the Constitution of ...

in 1970 with Governor John A. Burns. When Governor Burns fell ill in October 1973, Ariyoshi assumed his constitutional role as

acting governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...

Governor

In the election of 1974, Ariyoshi was elected governor in his own right, with Nelson Doi as his lieutenant governor. He was re-elected in 1978 with Jean King as lieutenant governor and in 1982 with

John D. Waihee III John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

as lieutenant governor. Ariyoshi's administration was marked by fiscal conservatism as the post-statehood economic boom came to an end. He guided the state through its first

economic recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by variou ...

. Barred by term limits from seeking another term in 1986, Ariyoshi was succeeded by Waihee. After leaving public office, he served in a variety of corporate and non-profit capacities.

Personal life

Jean Ariyoshi, Billy Kenoi and George Ariyoshi

Ariyoshi married Jean Miya Hayashi in 1955 in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. They have a daughter, Lynn, born in 1957; and two sons, Ryozo, born in 1959, and Donn, 1961. In her book ''Washington Place: A First Lady's Story'', Jean Ariyoshi credits former police officer Larry Mehau as becoming responsible for her family's safety. Mehau was also named "Neighbor Islands Coordinator" for her husband's campaign for governor. In the book she states that Mehau, although having a reputation as being honest and tough, was nicknamed in the press as "the Godfather". She does not mention why he was given this nickname, but the press did so because he was accused of having ties to the criminal underworld, many claiming that he was the top boss of organized crime in Hawai'i. According to Jean Ariyoshi, Mehau offered his help but told her husband: "I know I'm controversial, so don't put me up in front." Her husband responded: "I've known you for a long time and I've known you to be a good and honest person. What kind of friend would I be if I said 'I want your help but I don't want anyone to know you're helping me?' I'm not afraid to have people know of our friendship." In his own 200-page autobiography, ''With Obligation to All'', George Ariyoshi does not mention Larry Mehau at all. Ariyoshi has also served as president of the Hawaii

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to se ...

and served on the board of directors for

First Hawaiian Bank First Hawaiian, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Its principal subsidiary, First Hawaiian Bank, founded in 1858, is Hawaii’s oldest and largest financial institution headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Fir ...

, the Honolulu Gas Company and Hawaiian Insurance Guaranty Company. He also served on the board of governors at the

East-West Center East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salma ...

, based in

, an internationally known education and research organization that was established by U.S. Congress. As governor, he is credited with revitalizing the organization, and joined the board when his term as governor ended. He served five terms as chairman, until he was not reappointed by Republican Governor

Linda Lingle Linda Lingle (''née'' Cutter; June 4, 1953) is an American politician, who was the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 until 2010. She was the first Republican governor of Hawaii since 1962. Lingle was also the state's first female and first J ...

in 2003. He is the oldest living former governor of Hawaii.

References

*Ariyoshi, Wife Detained in Dispute with Customs" (Honolulu Advertiser 05-28-87) *(resigned from FHB to spare them "any embarrassment")(Honolulu Advertiser 06-19-87) *(pays $11,389.00 fine)(Honolulu Advertiser 11-28-87) *https://books.google.com/books/about/Land_and_Power_in_Hawaii.html?id=8128CdCEJNcC

External links

My Philosophy Vol.85 George Ariyoshi (2018)Honolulu Star Bulletin Article about Ariyoshi's Wife and her book, ''Washington Place: A First Lady's Story''George Ariyoshi Tribute Site
by

Margaret Holland Sargent Margaret Holland Sargent (born December 30, 1927), also known as Meg Sargent, is an American portrait artist based in Los Angeles, California. She has painted over three hundred oil portraits, including portraits of Tennessee Williams, Gerald F ...

Appearances
on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ariyoshi, George 1926 births 20th-century American politicians United States Army personnel of World War II American politicians of Japanese descent American state governors of Japanese descent Democratic Party governors of Hawaii Hawaii lawyers Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent Democratic Party Hawaii state senators Lieutenant Governors of Hawaii Living people Members of the Hawaii Territorial Legislature Michigan State University alumni Military personnel from Hawaii Politicians from Honolulu United States Army soldiers University of Michigan Law School alumni