Hiram Fong
Hiram Leong Fong (born Yau Leong Fong;[1] October 15, 1906 – August 18, 2004) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician from Hawaii. Born to a Cantonese immigrant sugar plantation worker, Fong became the first Chinese-American and first Asian-American United States Senator, serving from 1959 to 1977.[2]
Hiram Fong
Seat established
Manuel Paschoal
August 18, 2004 (aged 97)
Kahaluu, Hawaii, U.S.
4; including Hiram Fong Jr.
Businessman, lawyer, politician
United States
1942–1945
鄺友良
邝友良
Kuàng Yǒuliáng
Kuàng Yǒuliáng
Kwong3 Yau5 Leung4
At the 1964 Republican National Convention, Fong became the first Asian-American to receive delegate votes for his party's nomination for President of the United States. In the Senate, Fong supported civil rights legislation and eliminating ethnic barriers to immigration.[3] As of 2023, Fong is the only Republican to have ever served as a senator from Hawaii.
Early life and education[edit]
Fong was born in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kalihi on the island of Oahu as the seventh of 11 children.[4] His father, Fong Sau Howe, was of Cantonese origin (from modern day Zhuhai) and immigrated to Hawaii in 1872, along with nearly 45,000 other immigrants who would work on sugar plantations. Fong began working at age four picking beans for cattle feed, and by the age of seven was working as a shoeshiner.[5]
Fong attended local public schools and graduated from McKinley High School in 1924.[1] Masaji Marumoto, who went on to become the first Japanese-American Justice on the Supreme Court of Hawaii, was a classmate.[6] In 1930, Fong obtained a degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and in 1935 obtained a law degree from Harvard Law School.[7]
Early career[edit]
Legal and military career[edit]
After returning to Hawaii, Fong worked in the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu. In 1938, Fong went into private legal practice and founded the firm of Fong, Miho, Choy, and Robinson. In 1942, he changed his name to "Hiram",[1] reportedly in honor of Hiram Bingham I, an early Protestant missionary in Hawaii.[5]
During World War II, he served as a Major in the United States Army Air Forces as a Judge Advocate, later retiring as a colonel from the United States Air Force Reserve.[1][8]
Territorial politics[edit]
The same year he founded his law office, Fong entered elected political life as a member of the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives where he became Speaker of the House from 1948 to 1954.[9] During this time, he was one of the foremost leaders in the fight to make Hawaii a state. As a territorial legislator, Fong was a delegate to the 1952 Republican National Convention.[10]
Fong was forced into retirement when the Democratic Party of Hawaii successfully ended a Hawaii Republican Party stronghold over the Hawaii Territorial Legislature by voting most Republican incumbents out of office. Fong founded several businesses after leaving the legislature.[1]