Samuel Wilder King was Territorial Governor of Hawai'i from 1953 to 1957. Previous to his term, he was Congressional delegate and president of the constitutional convention that wrote the state's first laws.

Samuel Wilder King (December 17, 1886 - March 24, 1959) was the eleventh Territorial Governor of Hawai'i 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 Hawai'i. He was a member of the Hawai'i Republican Party and was the first of native Hawaiian descent to rise to the highest office in the territory.

Education

King was born in Honolulu and was a subject of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. A devout Roman Catholic, King attended Saint Louis 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.

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, DC from January 1935 to January 1943. 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 Hawai'i Statehood Commission in 1947 where he stayed until 1953. President of the United States Dwight Eisenhower appointed King to the governorship that year. He served in 'Iolani Palace until his resignation on July 31, 1957. He died in Honolulu in the spring before Hawai'i achieved statehood. He was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.