John A. Burns

At 66 years old, John A. Burns physical status not available right now. We will update John A. Burns's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Burns' work as a sympathetic police officer, building close ties with working class folks from numerous ethnic groups, notably Japanese and native Hawaiians. While a police officer in Honolulu, his first political efforts arose from his work with the Police Benevolent Society. From 1948 he led the Hawaii Democratic Revolution of 1954, through various leadership positions in the territorial Democratic Party, culminating in being chair of the territorial party in 1952. He is credited with building a coalition for the Democratic Party that included the Communist Party, 442nd Regimental Combat Team veterans, ILWU, other organized labor groups, and Japanese Americans to strengthen the party. In 1956, he was elected a party delegate from Hawaii. As a delegate, Burns played a key role in lobbying for Hawaii statehood, a goal that was achieved on March 12, 1959, when the statehood bill was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He sought to become the first governor of the newly formed state, but lost the election to Territorial Governor William F. Quinn.

Three years later in 1962, Burns won the election to become governor. Governor Burns played a leading role in stimulating the state economy and attracting foreign tourism and investment. His many achievements include the promotion of Hawaii as a center for oceanography, construction of the new State Capitol building, and expansion of the University of Hawaii, helping to transform it into a first-class university, attracting students and faculty from around the world and early planning for the construction of the Aloha Stadium to host university football and bowl games. Burns supported the construction of an expanded Honolulu International Airport with a new reef-runway and the construction of Interstate H-3.

Additionally, he supported planning for the future by establishing the Hawaii Commission on the Year 2000, which ultimately led to the development of the Quality Growth Policy for the State of Hawaii. Both the Commission on the Year 2000 and Hawaii's Quality Growth Policy were intended to supplement Hawaii's State Land-Use Plan. Finally, Governor Burns made Hawaii a leader in environmental management, establishing the Office of Environmental Quality Control, within the Governor's Office, to coordinate state environmental policy and to review environmental impact statements on all major state actions.

Burns was re-elected in 1966 and 1970, each time with a different lieutenant governor as his running mate. In 1966, he was elected governor with Lieutenant Governor Thomas Gill. During his term as lieutenant governor, Gill, considered outspoken and acerbic, developed differences with Burns, and was never shy about criticizing the incumbent, despite being part of his administration. In 1970, Gill challenged Burns in the Democratic primary. Gill ran as a reformer, campaigning against what he described as an entrenched, corrupt political machine. He narrowly lost, even though Burns significantly outspent him in a savvy campaign that included sophisticated use of expensive image-building television spots. Most in the state's large Japanese population remained loyal to Burns, who had spearheaded their rise to political power during the 1950s. Before Neil Abercrombie lost in 2014 this race stood as the closest anyone came to a primary defeat of an incumbent governor of Hawaii. Burns' running-mate in 1970, George Ariyoshi, ran to succeed Burns as governor in 1974, defeating Gill in the Democratic primary.

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