Part II of the long journey to statehood for Hawaii.
In part I, I covered the impact of World War II and the suspicion of the Japanese population after the war. Despite promises by both parties, statehood for Hawaii continued to be stalled due to partisan politics. In 1953, Hawaii leaned Republican, and the Democrats were unwilling to bring a statehood bill for Hawaii without Alaska which was decidedly Democratic. They criticized any attempts to admit Hawaii alone as a blatant and partisan grab for power. On the other hand, despite their publicly stated support for statehood of Alaska, Republicans refused to consider immediate statehood for Alaska. Things remained at a stand-still.
In 1954, when President Eisenhower endorsed Hawaii, but ignored Alaska in his State of the Union address, he further alienated moderate Democrats making it even harder to get a separate Hawaii bill to the Senate floor.
"The people of Hawaii are ready for statehood. I renew my request for this legislation in order that Hawaii may elect its State officials and its representatives in Washington along with the rest of the country this fall."
Senate Republicans still tried to get a separate Hawaii bill, but when Republican Henry Dworshak of Idaho unexpectedly deserted the GOP and voted with the Democrats in committee, it forced the Republicans into allowing two separate bills to be introduced, one for Hawaii and one for Alaska. Eventually, the bills were combined and on April 1, 1954, the Senate passed the Hawaii-Alaska bill. It was a decisive victory, but only symbolic since it was widely known that the House would never pass a combined bill in 1954.
Then the political landscape changed; territorial elections in November of 1954 turned Hawaii from leaning Republican to solid Democrat. It was the fist time the Democrats had won power on the islands and while Eisenhower's position on statehood did not change publicly, he did little in private to encourage statehood for Hawaii that year. As a result, from 1955 to 1956, Congress did little to nothing to pass any specific legislation on statehood. Eisenhower was still pushing for a separate bill for Hawaii statehood in his 1955 State of the Union address, told Congress he saw no reason to wait on the admission of Hawaii, and urged its approval separate from consideration of Alaska.
"As the complex problems of Alaska are resolved, that Territory should expect to achieve statehood. In the meantime, there is no justification for deferring the admission to statehood of Hawaii. I again urge approval of this measure."
Eisenhower was easily re-elected in 1956, but Democrats now had control of both the Senate and the House. Democrats also defeated the Republicans on both the islands of Hawaii and in Alaska. In both territories, statehood was the prominent issue in the race and the Democrats latched on to it. With the support of the large Japanese population in Hawaii, the Democrats were able to shed the communist issue and dominate island politics. Any concerns that the people of Hawaii were not yet Americanized were in the past, and any concerns over the danger of communist infiltration on the Islands was viewed as a partisan preoccupation. Eisenhower remained committed to Hawaii statehood, and by 1956 veered from his Hawaii only policy. Eisenhower was now open to argument of moving towards statehood for both Hawaii and Alaska in the same Session. This he shared with Congress in his 1956 State of the Union address.
"One particular challenge confronts us. In the Hawaiian Islands, East meets West. To the Islands, Asia and Europe and the Western Hemisphere, all the continents, have contributed their peoples and their cultures to display a unique example of a community that is a successful laboratory in human brotherhood.
Statehood, supported by the repeatedly expressed desire of the Islands' people and by our traditions, would be a shining example of the American way to the entire earth. Consequently, I urgently request this Congress to grant statehood for Hawaii. Also, in harmony with the provisions I last year communicated to the Senate and House Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs, I trust that progress toward statehood for Alaska can be made in this Session."
Despite the Democratic majorities in Congress and Eisenhower's willingness to progress toward statehood for both Alaska and Hawaii, statehood for Hawaii continue to stall. In February of 1958, the Eisenhower administration now threatened to pull support for Alaska unless the Democrats would ensure that votes on Hawaii would take place immediately after Alaska. The Democrats though were now pushing to ensure that solidly Democratic Alaska statehood was not linked to Hawaii. Republicans, who believed that Alaska's admission into the union would bring prompt action on Hawaii accepted a compromise strategy to admit Alaska first allowing a separate Alaska bill pass the house on May 28,1958, with a thin margin. Immediately after this victory, Democrats in the House publicly shared that they had no intentions of debating a bill on Hawaii immediately, and instead it would be delayed until 1959. The Democrats had outmaneuvered the Republicans and the Eisenhower administration. Hawaii would now have to wait until late 1959. On August 21, 1959, President Eisenhower signed the official proclamation admitting Hawaii as the 50th state.
Eisenhower made no mention of Hawaii in his 1959 State of the Union Address, but in 1960 he gave a very short tribute to the two new western stars that were added to our union.
"In the past 18 months we have hailed the entry of two more States of the Union--Alaska and Hawaii. We salute these two western stars proudly."
References
"Annual Message To The Congress On The State Of The Union | The American Presidency Project". Presidency.Ucsb.Edu, 2021, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/annual-message-the-congress-the-state-the-union-13.
"Annual Message To The Congress On The State Of The Union | The American Presidency Project". Presidency.Ucsb.Edu, 2021, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/annual-message-the-congress-the-state-the-union-12.
"Annual Message To The Congress On The State Of The Union. | The American Presidency Project". Presidency.Ucsb.Edu, 2021, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/annual-message-the-congress-the-state-the-union-11.
"Annual Message To The Congress On The State Of The Union. | The American Presidency Project". Presidency.Ucsb.Edu, 2021, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/annual-message-the-congress-the-state-the-union-6.
Bell, Roger J. Last Among Equals. University Of Hawaii Press, 1984, pp. 263-284.
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