OBITUARIES
STATE OF HAWAII
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GOVERNOR OF HAWAII
JOHN ANTHONY BURNS OBITUARY
HONOLULU (AP) — John A. Burns, a former police officer who aligned himself with the post -war political awakening of Hawaii's noncucasians, died Saturday at his suburban home, less than four months after completing his third term as governor. He was 66. Burns underwent surgery for cancer of the colon in October, 1973, and never was able to resume his official duties. Lt. Gov. George R. Ariyoshi, Burns' political protege took over as acting governor and a year later won election as the nation's first governor of Japanese ancestry. Ariyoshi ordered the state flag flown at half-staff for a 30-day period of mourning for the man he described as "the architect of Hawaii as we know it." Funeral services are pending for the former governor, who is survived by his widow and three children. Aa a police captain following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Burns was assigned to keep an eye on the local Japanese community for signs of subversive activity. He was, however, soon defending the loyalty of these Japanese-Americans and sponsored the creation of an all-Japanese-Americnn army unit which went to fight in Italy. It was the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit of World War II. When the veterans returned home to the islands, most were no longer satisfied to be workers on Hawaii's huge sugar and pineapple plantations. It was at that time that Burns gave up police work and started devoting most of his time to organizing the Democratic party. Burns' first try for political office was in 1948, running as a territorial delegate to Congress. He was crushed by Republican Joseph Farrington, who had the support of Hawaii's rich landowners and so called big five companies. The political revolution in Hawaii occurred in the 1954 election when the young Democrats aligned with Burns swept into office and won control of the territorial legislature. Among them were U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. Rep. Spark M. Matsunaga and Ariyoshi. But for Burns, it was another year of failure and he again lost the bid to go to
Washington.
On his third try and with a promise that he could win statehood for Hawaii, Burns became Hawaii's delegate to Congress in 1956. With the knack of a seasoned politician, Burns soon found influential friends among the conservative Southern forces, including House Speaker Sam Rayburn and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. By allowing the Alaska statehood debate to go ahead first, Burns won his political gamble that success for the northern territory as the 49th state would pave the way for admission. Then, in what many saw as a personal political blunder, Burns remained too long in Washington, failing to get back home and bask in the glory for having brought full U.S. citizenship Hawaii's people with statehood in 1959. When Hawaii's voters ratified the statehood Act by a 17 to 1 margin, Republican William F. Quinn defeated Burns to become the first state governor. Burns unseated Quinn in 1962 with a substantial margin and the boy who had known the hardships of poverty went on to win two more terms.
Contributed by Barb Z from the Dallas Morning News April 7, 1975
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