Governor of American Samoa
Territory seal
Incumbent
Lemanu Peleti Mauga
since January 3, 2021
ResidenceGovernment House, Pago Pago
AppointerGeneral election
Term length4 years,
renewable once
PrecursorMalietoa
FormationFebruary 17, 1900
First holderBenjamin Franklin Tilley
as Commandant
WebsiteOffice 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)

TermPortraitIncumbentNotes
February 17, 1900 – November 27, 1901Benjamin Franklin Tilley, CommandantApril 17, 1900: Treaty of Cession of Tutuila
November 27, 1901 – December 16, 1902Uriel Sebree, Commandant
December 16, 1902 – May 5, 1903Henry Minett, acting Commandant
May 5, 1903 – January 30, 1905Edmund Beardsley Underwood, Commandant/GovernorJuly 16, 1904: Treaty of Cession of Manu'a
January 30, 1905 – May 21, 1908Charles Brainard Taylor Moore, Governor
May 21, 1908 – November 10, 1910John Frederick Parker, Governor
November 10, 1910 – March 14, 1913William Michael Crose, GovernorJuly 17, 1911: U.S. Naval Station Tutuila renamed American Samoa
March 14 – July 14, 1913Nathan Post, acting GovernorFirst term
July 14, 1913 – October 2, 1914Clark Daniel Stearns, Governor
October 2, 1914 – December 6, 1914Nathan Post, acting GovernorSecond term
December 6, 1914 – March 1, 1915Charles Armijo Woodruff, acting Governor
March 1, 1915 – June 10, 1919John Martin Poyer, Governor
June 10, 1919 – November 3, 1920Warren Terhune, GovernorCommitted suicide
November 11, 1920 – March 1, 1922Waldo A. Evans, Governor
March 1, 1922 – September 4, 1923Edwin Taylor Pollock, Governor
September 4, 1923 – March 17, 1925Edward Stanley Kellogg, Governor
March 17, 1925 – September 9, 1927Henry Francis Bryan, Governor
September 9, 1927 – August 2, 1929Stephen Victor Graham, GovernorFebruary 20, 1929: U.S. Congress recognized the cession of Tutuila and Manu'a by their chiefs, with retrospective to 16 July 1904.
August 2, 1929 – March 24, 1931Gatewood Lincoln, GovernorFirst term
March 24 – April 22, 1931James Sutherland Spore, acting Governor
April 22 – July 17, 1931Arthur Emerson, acting Governor
July 17, 1931 – May 12, 1932Gatewood Lincoln, GovernorSecond term
May 12, 1932 – April 10, 1934George Landenberger, Governor
April 10–17, 1934Thomas C. Latimore, acting Governor
April 17, 1934 – January 15, 1936Otto Dowling, Governor
January 15–20, 1936Thomas Benjamin Fitzpatrick, acting Governor
January 20, 1936 – June 3, 1938MacGillivray Milne, Governor
June 26, 1938 – July 30, 1940Edward Hanson, Governor
July 30 – August 8, 1940Jesse Wallace, acting Governor
August 8, 1940 – June 5, 1942Laurence Wild, GovernorHenry Louis Larsen served as Military Governor from January 17 to April 25, 1942
June 5, 1942 – February 8, 1944John Gould Moyer, Governor
February 8, 1944 – January 27, 1945Allen Hobbs, Governor
January 27 – September 3, 1945Ralph Hungerford, Governor
September 3–10, 1945Samuel Canan, acting Governor
September 10, 1945 – April 22, 1947Harold Houser, Governor
April 22, 1947 – June 15, 1949Vernon Huber, Governor
July 7, 1949 – February 23, 1951Thomas Darden, Governor

Civilian governors (1951–1978)

Portrait Governor Took office Left office Party
  Phelps Phelps
(1897–1981)		 February 23, 1951 June 20, 1952 Republican
  John C. Elliott
(1919–2001)		 July 16, 1952 November 23, 1952 Democratic
  James Arthur Ewing
(1916–???)		 November 28, 1952 March 4, 1953 Democratic
  Lawrence M. Judd
(1887–1968)		 March 4, 1953 August 5, 1953 Republican
  Richard Barrett Lowe
(1902–1972)		 August 5, 1953 October 15, 1956 Republican
  Peter Tali Coleman
(1919–1997)		 October 13, 1956 May 24, 1961 Republican
  H. Rex Lee
(1910–2001)		 May 24, 1961 July 31, 1967 Democratic
  Owen Aspinall
(1927–1997)		 August 1, 1967 July 31, 1969 Democratic
  John Morse Haydon
(1920–1991)		 August 1, 1969 October 14, 1974 Republican
  Frank Mockler
(1909–1993)
(acting)		 October 14, 1974 February 6, 1975 Republican
  Earl B. Ruth
(1916–1989)		 February 6, 1975 September 30, 1976 Republican
  Frank Barnett
(1933–2016)		 October 1, 1976 May 27, 1977 Republican
  H. Rex Lee
(1910–2001)		 May 28, 1977 January 3, 1978 Democratic

Elected governors (1978–present)

S. No. Portrait Governor Tenure Party Elected Lieutenant Governor
1 Peter Tali Coleman
(1919–1997)		 January 3, 1978
–
January 3, 1985		 Republican 1977
1980		 Tufele Liamatua
2   A. P. Lutali
(1919–2002)		 January 3, 1985
–
January 2, 1989		 Democratic 1984 Eni Faleomavaega
3 Peter Tali Coleman
(1919–1997)		 January 2, 1989
–
January 3, 1993		 Republican 1988 Galea'i Peni Poumele
  Gaioi Tufele Galeai
4 A. P. Lutali
(1919–2002)		 January 3, 1993
–
January 3, 1997		 Democratic 1992 Tauese Sunia
5 Tauese Sunia
(1941–2003)		 January 3, 1997
–
March 26, 2003		 Democratic 1996
2000		 Togiola Tulafono
– Togiola Tulafono
(born 1947)		 March 26, 2003
–
April 7, 2003		 Democratic 2004
2008		 Himself
6 April 7, 2003
–
January 3, 2013		   Faoa Aitofele Sunia
7 Lolo Matalasi Moliga
(born 1947)		 January 3, 2013
–
January 3, 2021		 Independent 2012
2016		 Lemanu Peleti Mauga
Democratic
8   Lemanu Peleti Mauga
(born 1949)		 January 3, 2021
–
Incumbent		 Democratic 2020 Eleasalo Ale

Succession

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. ISBN 9789829008015.
  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. ISBN 9789829008015.
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