Waihe'e, John D. (John David), III, 1946-

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John David Waiheʻe III (born May 19, 1946) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he 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.

Born in Honoka'a on the Island of Hawaii, he graduated from Hawaiian Mission Academy in Honolulu before attending Andrews University, where he earned B.A. degrees in business and history and the University of Hawaii at Manoa where he earned a J.D. Waiheʻe started his political career as a delegate to the 1978 Hawaiʻi 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 Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives from 1981 to 1982. Waiheʻe was elected lieutenant governor of Hawaii under Governor George Ariyoshi, serving in that capacity until 1986.

Waiheʻe successfully ran for the governor's office sharing a ticket with state senator Ben Cayetano. Cayetano became Waiheʻe's lieutenant governor for two terms; both were re-elected in 1990. During much of his term, Hawaiʻi 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 Queen Liliʻuokalani was deposed) occurred. Waiheʻe left office in 1994, having served the maximum two terms in office as permitted by the Constitution of Hawaiʻi that he had helped to author. His lieutenant governor won the election to succeed Waiheʻe.

After leaving the governor's office, Waiheʻe 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, Waiheʻe considered running for the United States House of Representatives seat left open by the death of Patsy Mink on September 28, 2002. 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. Waiheʻe dropped out of both special election contests and endorsed the candidacy of Mink's widower.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Waihee, John D., III, 1946-. John D. Waihee, III : commercials , 1982. University of Oklahoma, Political Community Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Andrews University corporateBody
associatedWith Ariyoshi, George R. (George Ryoichi), 1926- person
memberOf Hawaii. Legislature. House of Representatives corporateBody
associatedWith Hawaii. Office of the Governor corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf University of Hawaii at Manoa corporateBody
associatedWith University of Oklahoma. Political Commercial Archive. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
District of Columbia DC US
Honoka’a HI US
Berrien Springs MI US
Honolulu HI US
Subject
Advertising, political
Television advertising
Occupation
Governors
Lawyers
Lieutenant governors
Lobbyists
State Government Official
State Representative
Activity

Person

Birth 1946-05-19

Male

Americans

English

Information

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