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Daniel Daniel Dentistry | Halifax, NS - Daniel Daniel Dentistry danieldanieldentistry.com |
Daniel Kahikina Akaka(ダニエルアカカ, Danieru Akaka) (born September 11, 1924) is the junior U.S. Senator from Hawaii and a member of the Democratic Party. He is the first U.S. Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry and is currently the only member of the Senate who has Chinese ancestry.[1] With the departure of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska he became the fourth oldest member of the United States Senate after Robert Byrd, Frank Lautenberg, and Daniel Inouye.
[edit] Early life and careerAkaka was born in Honolulu to Annie Kahoa and Kahikina Akaka.[2] He entered the military immediately after high school graduation, serving from 1943 to 1947. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including service on Saipan and Tinian. He worked as a welder and a mechanic and spent his final months of the war as a first mate on the vessel Morning Star. Entering college (funded by the G.I. Bill), he earned a Bachelor of Education in 1952 from the University of Hawaii. He later received a Master of Education from the same school in 1966. He worked as a high school teacher in Honolulu from 1953 until 1960, when he was then hired as a vice principal. In 1963, he became head principal. In 1969, he was hired by the Department of Education as a chief program planner. Akaka then continued working in government, holding positions as director of the Hawaii Office of Economic Opportunity, human resources assistant for state Governor George Ariyoshi, and director of the Progressive Neighborhoods Program. Akaka was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1976 to represent Hawaii's Second Congressional District. He won seven consecutive elections by wide margins. [edit] United States SenateAkaka was appointed by Governor John Waihee to the U.S. Senate in April 1990 to serve temporarily after the death of Senator Spark Matsunaga, and sworn into office on May 16, 1990. In November of the same year, he was elected to complete the remaining four years of Matsunaga's unexpired term. He was re-elected in 1994 for a full six-year term and, with over 70 percent of the popular vote, again in 2000. Akaka is the only current senator who has been elected to the Senate multiple times after being appointed. Since 2000, Akaka has sponsored legislation to afford sovereignty to native Hawaiians. The Akaka Bill is presently under consideration.  In April 2006, he was selected by Time as one of America's Five Worst Senators. The article criticized him for mainly authoring minor legislation, calling him "master of the minor resolution and the bill that dies in committee".[3] The other Senator from Hawaii is Daniel Inouye. Despite almost three decades' difference in Senate tenure, the two Daniels were born four days apart. Akaka is married to Mary Mildred "Millie" Chong; they have five children (four sons and a daughter), 14 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Like Inouye and 21 other Senators, Akaka voted against authorization of the use of military force against Iraq.[4] In February 2009, a bill was filed in the Philippine House of Representatives by Rep. Antonio Diaz seeking to confer honorary Filipino citizenship on Akaka, Senators Daniel Inouye and Ted Stevens and Representative Bob Filner, for their role in securing the passage of benefits for Filipino World War II veterans.[5] [edit] 2006 re-election campaignMain article: Hawaii U.S. Senate election, 2006 Running for another term in 2006, Akaka won the September 23 Democratic primary against U.S. Congressman Ed Case with 54% to Case's 46%.[6] Akaka's Republican challenger was state Representative Cynthia Thielen, who was appointed to fill the place of Republican primary winner Jerry Coffee, who had withdrawn earlier in the year due to health reasons. In the general election on November 7, 2006, Daniel Akaka defeated Thielen, 61.8% to 36,4%. [edit] Committee assignments
[edit] Caucuses[edit] Electoral history2006 Hawaii United States Senatorial Election
2006 Hawaii Democratic United States Senatorial Primary Election
2000 Hawaii United States Senatorial Election
1994 Hawaii United States Senatorial Election
1990 Hawaii United States Senatorial Special Election
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
Categories: 1924 births | Living people | United States Senators from Hawaii | Appointed United States Senators | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Hawaii | State cabinet secretaries of Hawaii | Hawaii Democrats | Chinese American politicians | Native Hawaiian politicians | People from Honolulu, Hawaii | American military personnel of World War II | Asian Americans in the United States Military | United States Army officers | American schoolteachers | United Church of Christ members | University of Hawaii alumni | Kamehameha Schools alumni | Hokulea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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