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Hiram Leong Fong (born Yau Leong Fong; October 15, 1906 – August 18, 2004) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician from Hawaii. Born to a Cantonese immigrant sugar plantation worker, Fong was one of the first two senators for Hawaii after it became the 50th US state in 1959. He was the first Chinese American and first Asian American United States Senator, serving from 1959 to 1977, and to date he remains the only Republican U.S. senator from Hawaii.
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.
Fong attended local public schools and graduated from McKinley High School in 1924. Masaji Marumoto, who went on to become the first Japanese-American Justice on the Supreme Court of Hawaii, was a classmate. In 1930, Fong obtained a degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and in 1935 obtained a LLB from Harvard Law School.
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.
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.
According to The Washington Post, Fong's political success can be partially attributed to the support he received from the powerful International Longshore and Warehouse Union. In office, Fong was generally regarded as a moderate Republican, voting in favor of many of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" initiatives, such as the establishment of Medicare in 1965.
In the 1959 election, Fong won against Democrat Frank Fasi by a margin of 52.9 to 47.1%. In 1964, Fong was reelected with 53% of the vote against Democrat Thomas Gill, who received 46.4%. Fong was reelected again in 1970 by an even closer margin of 51.6 to 48.4% versus Democrat Cecil Heftel. In 1976, Fong chose to retire rather than seek reelection, and was succeeded by Democrat Spark Matsunaga.
Fong was booed by an audience for defending George W. Romney, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in the wake of a real-estate industry scandal.
In 1960, Richard Nixon remarked that "the American dream is not just a dream, it does come true – Hiram Fong's life proves it" during a visit to Hawaii.
In 1965, during debate on Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Fong answered questions concerning the possible change in U.S. cultural patterns by an influx of Asians:
"Asians represent six-tenths of 1 percent of the population of the United States ... concerning Japan, we estimate that there will be a total for the first 5 years of some 5,391 ... the people from that part of the world will never reach 1 percent of the population ...Our cultural pattern will never be changed as far as America is concerned." (U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization of the Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, D.C., February 10, 1965, pp.71, 119.)
On August 18, 2004, Hiram Fong died of kidney failure at his home in Honolulu; he was the last living former U.S. senator born in the 1900s decade.
Fong was a Congregationalist and was buried in Nuuanu Memorial Park and Mortuary.United States Congress. "Hiram Fong (id: F000245)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Approximately 80 boxes of books accompanied Fong's papers, several dedicated his work on Senate committees such as the POCS. A few of the books were kept with the congressional collection, though the majority were added to the university library. A gift book plate was designed for these incorporating the senator's noted signature. The papers were processed in 2003 by archivist Dee Hazelrigg, and are available to researchers by appointment.
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