Richard Kawakami

Richard A. Kawakami (born February 22, 1931 in Waimea , Hawaii Territory , †  March 8, 1987 in Lānaʻi , Hawaii ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). In 1987 he was President ( Speaker ) of the House of Representatives of Hawaii .

Career

Richard Kawakami was born on the island of Kaua'i . He graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1953 and received a Master of Business Administration from New York University in 1961 . He subsequently became a successful businessman; He was president of the Big Save supermarket chain and director of a Toyota subsidiary.

In 1968, Kawakami was first elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives. From 1984, after confirming his mandate eight times, he acted as the majority leader of the Democratic parliamentary group, before taking over the position of speaker after the 1986 elections as the successor to Henry H. Peters . However, he only practiced this from January 1987 until his death on March 8 of the same year. While he was on a hunting trip on the island of Lānaʻi, he initially complained of chest pain and shortness of breath. Then he collapsed and died of complications from a heart attack.

The acting successor as speaker was his deputy Emilio Alcon , who was officially replaced by Daniel J. Kihano later in the year . Kawakami's widow Bertha took over her husband's seat in the House of Representatives and stayed there until 2006, when she waived re-election. Derek Kawakami , the couple's nephew, was also a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015 and has been the mayor of Kauaʻi since 2018.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Our Campaigns: Kawakami, Richard A.
2. ↑ AP News: Hawaii House Speaker Dies of Apparent Heart Attack (March 9, 1987)
3. ↑ The Hawaii Herald: Lead Story - Mayor Derek Kawakami (December 20, 2019)