List of governors of American Samoa explained

Post:Governor
Body:American Samoa
Insignia:Seal of American Samoa.svg
Insigniacaption:Territory seal
Incumbent:Lemanu Peleti Mauga
Incumbentsince:January 3, 2021
Residence:Government House, Pago Pago
Appointer:General election
Termlength:4 years,
Termlength Qualified:renewable once
Precursor:Malietoa
Formation:February 17, 1900
First:Benjamin Franklin Tilley
Website:Office of the Governor

This is a list of governors, etc. of the part of the Samoan Islands (now comprising American Samoa) under United States administration since 1900.

From 1900 to 1978 governors were appointed by the Federal government of the United States. Since that time they have been elected for 4-year terms by the people of American Samoa.

History

When the Department of the Interior sent four governors in a three-year period, local Samoans began advocating for choosing their own governors. In the late 1940s, a Navy Governor, as well as an Interior Governor, had expressed their beliefs that High Orator Chief Tuiasosopo would be a suitable governor. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Peter Tali Coleman as Governor of American Samoa, the first person of Samoan descent to occupy that role. Coleman, a member of the Republican Party, was a U.S. Army officer with a law degree from Georgetown University. After his presidential appointment, local residents became increasingly aware that Samoans can do the job just as good as the federal government, which until now had appointed governors to the islands. Soon local lawmakers such as Governor Owen Aspinall and H. Rex Lee favored the idea of locals being elected governors. On the other side was Governor John Morse Haydon, who openly opposed the idea. An administrative judge criticized Haydon and following a Pago Pago hearing, the Department of the Interior began distancing itself from Haydon and soon replaced him with a new governor. The concept of an elected governor was proposed with Senate Bill 20 and a Gubernatorial Commission was created in order to consider ways to implement the concept of electing governors.[1]

In a 1977 article from the New York Times, it describes how opposition to an appointed Governor began with the appointment of Earl B. Ruth. Within eighteen months, the congressman from North Carolina had removed several Samoans in administrative posts, who had been appointed by former Republican Governor John Morse Haydon. Governor Ruth was soon recalled to Washington, DC and was later quoted for having called Samoans "lazy, thieving liars." After having turned down the proposal to elect their own Governor in three plebiscites, American Samoans in a 1976 referendum overwhelmingly approved the measure in which allowed them to elect that official. The first popularly elected Governor was Republican Peter Tali Coleman that same year.[2]

Republican Te'o J. Fuavai was one of the earliest proponents of the movement to elect Governors in American Samoa, as opposed to Governors being appointed by the federal government. Fuavai sponsored a resolution that proposed the Department of the Interior to permit elections.[3]

Appointed governors (1900–1978)

Naval administrators (1900–1951)

Term Portrait Incumbent Notes
valign=topFebruary 17, 1900 – November 27, 1901valign=topBenjamin Franklin Tilley, Commandantvalign=top
valign=topNovember 27, 1901 – December 16, 1902valign=topUriel Sebree, Commandant
valign=topDecember 16, 1902 – May 5, 1903valign=topHenry Minett, acting Commandant
valign=topMay 5, 1903 – January 30, 1905valign=topEdmund Beardsley Underwood, Commandant/Governorvalign=top
valign=topJanuary 30, 1905 – May 21, 1908valign=topCharles Brainard Taylor Moore, Governor
valign=topMay 21, 1908 – November 10, 1910valign=topJohn Frederick Parker, Governor
valign=topNovember 10, 1910 – March 14, 1913valign=topWilliam Michael Crose, Governorvalign=top
valign=topMarch 14 – July 14, 1913valign=topNathan Post, acting GovernorFirst term
valign=topJuly 14, 1913 – October 2, 1914valign=topClark Daniel Stearns, Governor
valign=topOctober 2, 1914 – December 6, 1914valign=topNathan Post, acting Governor Second term
valign=topDecember 6, 1914 – March 1, 1915valign=topCharles Armijo Woodruff, acting Governor
valign=topMarch 1, 1915 – June 10, 1919valign=topJohn Martin Poyer, Governor
valign=topJune 10, 1919 – November 3, 1920valign=topWarren Terhune, Governor Committed suicide
valign=topNovember 11, 1920 – March 1, 1922valign=topWaldo A. Evans, Governor
valign=topMarch 1, 1922 – September 4, 1923valign=topEdwin Taylor Pollock, Governor
valign=topSeptember 4, 1923 – March 17, 1925valign=topEdward Stanley Kellogg, Governor
valign=topMarch 17, 1925 – September 9, 1927valign=topHenry Francis Bryan, Governor
valign=topSeptember 9, 1927 – August 2, 1929valign=topStephen Victor Graham, Governorvalign=top
valign=topAugust 2, 1929 – March 24, 1931valign=topGatewood Lincoln, Governor First term
valign=topMarch 24 – April 22, 1931valign=topJames Sutherland Spore, acting Governor
valign=topApril 22 – July 17, 1931valign=topArthur Emerson, acting Governor
valign=topJuly 17, 1931 – May 12, 1932valign=topGatewood Lincoln, Governor Second term
valign=topMay 12, 1932 – April 10, 1934valign=topGeorge Landenberger, Governor
valign=topApril 10–17, 1934valign=topThomas C. Latimore, acting Governor
valign=topApril 17, 1934 – January 15, 1936valign=topOtto Dowling, Governor
valign=topJanuary 15–20, 1936valign=topThomas Benjamin Fitzpatrick, acting Governor
valign=topJanuary 20, 1936 – June 3, 1938valign=topMacGillivray Milne, Governor
valign=topJune 26, 1938 – July 30, 1940valign=topEdward Hanson, Governor
valign=topJuly 30 – August 8, 1940valign=topJesse Wallace, acting Governor
valign=topAugust 8, 1940 – June 5, 1942valign=topLaurence Wild, Governorvalign=top
valign=topJune 5, 1942 – February 8, 1944valign=topJohn Gould Moyer, Governor
valign=topFebruary 8, 1944 – January 27, 1945valign=topAllen Hobbs, Governor
valign=topJanuary 27 – September 3, 1945valign=topRalph Hungerford, Governor
valign=topSeptember 3–10, 1945valign=topSamuel Canan, acting Governor
valign=topSeptember 10, 1945 – April 22, 1947valign=topHarold Houser, Governor
valign=topApril 22, 1947 – June 15, 1949valign=topVernon Huber, Governor
valign=topJuly 7, 1949 – February 23, 1951valign=topThomas Darden, Governor

Civilian governors (1951–1978)

Portrait GovernorTook officeLeft officeParty
 Phelps Phelps
February 23, 1951June 20, 1952Republican
 John C. Elliott
July 16, 1952November 23, 1952Democratic
 James Arthur Ewing
November 28, 1952March 4, 1953Democratic
 Lawrence M. Judd
March 4, 1953August 5, 1953Republican
 Richard Barrett Lowe
August 5, 1953October 15, 1956Republican
 Peter Tali Coleman
October 13, 1956May 24, 1961Republican
 H. Rex Lee
May 24, 1961July 31, 1967Democratic
 Owen Aspinall
August 1, 1967July 31, 1969Democratic
 John Morse Haydon
August 1, 1969October 14, 1974Republican
 Frank Mockler

October 14, 1974February 6, 1975Republican
 Earl B. Ruth
February 6, 1975September 30, 1976Republican
 Frank Barnett
October 1, 1976May 27, 1977Republican
 H. Rex Lee
May 28, 1977January 3, 1978Democratic

Elected governors (1978–present)

S. No.Portrait GovernorTenurePartyElectedLieutenant Governor
1Peter Tali Coleman
January 3, 1978
–
January 3, 1985		Republican1977
1980		Tufele Liamatua
2 A. P. Lutali
January 3, 1985
–
January 2, 1989		Democratic1984Eni Faleomavaega
3Peter Tali Coleman
January 2, 1989
–
January 3, 1993		Republican1988Galea'i Peni Poumele
 Gaioi Tufele Galeai
4A. P. Lutali
January 3, 1993
–
January 3, 1997		Democratic1992Tauese Sunia
5Tauese Sunia
January 3, 1997
–
March 26, 2003		Democratic1996
2000		Togiola Tulafono
–Togiola Tulafono
March 26, 2003
–
April 7, 2003		Democratic2004
2008		Himself
6April 7, 2003
–
January 3, 2013		 Faoa Aitofele Sunia
7Lolo Matalasi Moliga
January 3, 2013
–
January 3, 2021		Independent2012
2016		Lemanu Peleti Mauga
Democratic
8 Lemanu Peleti Mauga
January 3, 2021
–
Incumbent		Democratic2020Eleasalo Ale

See also

Notes and References

  1. Sunia, Fofō I. F. (1998). The Story of the Legislature of American Samoa: In Commemoration of the Golden Jubilee 1948-1998. Pago Pago, AS: Legislature of American Samoa. Pages 236-237. .
  2. “GOVERNOR IS ELECTED IN AMERICAN SAMOA: Peter Coleman Is the First to Be Picked by Ballot - Leaders Were Named By U.S. for 77 Years.” New York Times (Nov. 24, 1977). Page 38.
  3. Sunia, Fofō I. F. (1998). The Story of the Legislature of American Samoa: In Commemoration of the Golden Jubilee 1948-1998. Pago Pago, AS: Legislature of American Samoa. Page 271. .

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