Chuck Mau (January 10, 1907 - September 11, 1990) was a Chinese-American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and jurist.

Personal life

Chuck Mau was born in Chinatown, Honolulu as the son of Chinese immigrants. His mother died of influenza in 1918, and his father operated a small business. He received a scholarship to go to Mills School (now Mid-Pacific Institute) and graduated with a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. In 1950, he received the University of Colorado Alumni Award.

Career

Chuck Mau was a founder of the modern Democratic Party of Hawaii and an early advocate of Hawaiian statehood. Working as a law clerk to justices of the Supreme Court of Hawaii from 1933 to 1936, Mau quickly was appointed to Deputy to the Attorney General of Hawaii, the first

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

to serve in the role. Eying a role in politics, he accepted an invitation from

Juggie Heen Ernest Nalani 'Juggie' Heen, Jr. (August 31, 1930 – June 30, 2013) was an American politician. Heen served in the United States Air Force. He then work in real estate development and sales. Heen then served in the Hawaii House of Representat ...

to run for a role as Deputy Supervisor as a Democrat. He was elected to the Honolulu Board of Supervisors (now

Honolulu City Council Honolulu City Council is the legislature of the City and County of Honolulu, the capital and largest city in Hawai'i, the fiftieth state in the United States. The City and County of Honolulu is a municipal corporation that manages government asp ...

) and served from 1940 to 1946, and 1948 to 1950. There, he passed a bill for rent-control in an attempt to ease the effects of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Mau was also a part of future Hawaii Governor John A. Burns's "Cell Gang" along with

Ernest Isao Murai Ernest Isao Murai (September 12, 1900 – 1981) has been called one of the "founding fathers" of the modern-day Hawaii Democratic Party. He was also the US Director of Customs in Hawaii, a National Democratic Party Committeeman and the first Asi ...

, Mits Kido, and Jack Kawano. Along with others, the "cell gang" served as the planning group for what was to become the

Hawaii Democratic Revolution of 1954 The Hawaii Democratic Revolution of 1954 is a popular term for the territorial elections of 1954 in which the long dominance of the Hawaii Republican Party in the legislature came to an abrupt end, replaced by the Democratic Party of Hawaii whi ...

, which permanently wrested control of state politics from landowners and Republican Party. Mau was appointed Chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party in 1948, As a delegate to the

1948 Democratic National Convention The 1948 Democratic National Convention was held at Philadelphia Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 12 to July 14, 1948, and resulted in the nominations of President Harry S. Truman for a full term and Senator Alben W. Ba ...

, he secured a unanimous vote for a resolution for immediate statehood in the party platform. He was a judge for the

United States Tax Court The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Trib ...

from 1948 to 1950. President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

later appointed him to the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts * ...

. Mau served from 1950 to 1951 before entering private practice.

References

1907 births People from Honolulu University of Colorado alumni Hawaii politicians of Chinese descent 1990 deaths {{Hawaii-politician-stub

Personal life

Career

See also

References