Ingram Macklin Stainback (May 12, 1883April 12, 1961) was an American politician. He served as the ninth
Territorial Governor of Hawaii
The governor of Hawaii ( haw, Ke Kiaʻaina o Hawaiʻi) is the head of government of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Constitution of Hawaii, Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 thro ...
from 1942 to 1951.
Early life
Stainback was born in 1883 in
Somerville, Tennessee
Somerville is a town in Fayette County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area. The population was 3,415 at the 2020 census, up from 3,094 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fayette County.
History
The to ...
. His father, Charles A. Stainback Sr, was a lawyer and his brother,
Charles A. Stainback, was a Democratic member of the
Tennessee Senate
The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.
The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...
.
The tombstone of Charles A. Stainback (1878-1961), is located in Somerville Cemetery, Somerville, Tennessee.
Stainback received his undergraduate degree from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
and his
Juris Doctor from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
.
Career
Stainback, a well-connected Democrat, came to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
shortly after graduation and was appointed by Democratic Governor
Lucius E. Pinkham in 1914 to the post of Territorial Attorney General.
He resigned in 1917 to join the Army and rose to the rank of major. When the war ended he returned to private practice in Hawaii.
Previous to his administration, Stainback was a United States District Attorney and then a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Territory of Hawaii. He was appointed to the office by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
. It is likely that his friendships with then-Secretary of State
Cordell Hull and Senator
Kenneth McKellar, both Tennesseans, played a role in his appointment. However, Stainback was essentially powerless for the first two years of his term since Gov.
Joseph B. Poindexter
Joseph Boyd Poindexter (April 14, 1869 – December 3, 1951) was the eighth Territorial Governor of Hawaii and served from 1934 to 1942.
Early life
Joseph Boyd Poindexter was born in Canyon City, Oregon to Thomas W. and Margaret Pipkin Poin ...
had allowed the military to take over the government on
December 7, 1941
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...
. During that time, Hawaii was governed by Army generals
Walter Short
Walter Campbell Short (March 30, 1880 – September 3, 1949) was a lieutenant general (temporary rank) and major general of the United States Army and the U.S. military commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations i ...
,
Delos Emmons
Delos Carleton Emmons (January 17, 1889 – October 3, 1965) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army. Essentially a "desk general," he was the military governor of Hawaii in the aftermath of the Attack on Pearl Harbor and administered t ...
, and
Robert C. Richardson, Jr.
A conservative Democrat, Stainback, whose full powers were restored on April 13, 1944, played a significant role in the lifting of
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
in wartime Hawaii. Stainback believed
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
were plotting to take over the
Hawaiian Islands. He also provided a genesis for Hawaii's
Democratic Revolution of 1954 by decrying the land monopolies in Hawaii and calling for land reform. Upon resigning his post on May 8, 1951, Stainback had served eight years, eight months and six days, the longest of any appointed governor up to that point.
On September 26, 1951, he was appointed by 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 ...
as an associate judge to the
Hawaii Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Hawaii is the highest court of the State of Hawaii in the United States. Its decisions are binding on all other courts of the Hawaii State Judiciary. The principal purpose of the Supreme Court is to review the decisions of ...
. Stainback argued for
Commonwealth status similar to
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
instead of statehood, arguing that Hawaii would benefit from the federal tax exemption.
Death and legacy
Stainback died in 1961 in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
and is buried at
Oahu Cemetery
The Oahu Cemetery is the resting place of many notable early residents of the Honolulu area. They range from missionaries and politicians to sports pioneers and philosophers. Over time it was expanded to become an area known as the Nuuanu Cemete ...
.
Stainback is memorialized on the
island of Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of th ...
by the Stainback Highway, a little-used 18-mile road that leads from the
Hawaii Belt Road
The Hawaii Belt Road is a modern name for the Māmalahoa Highway and consists of Hawaii state Routes 11, 19, and 190 that encircle the Island of Hawaii. The southern section, between Hilo and Kailua-Kona is numbered as Route 11. The section betw ...
near
Hilo at to Kulani Correctional Facility, a medium security state prison at . His son,
Macklin Fleming, was an associate justice of the
California Court of Appeal
The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts. and an early opponent of
affirmative action.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stainback, Ingram Macklin
Governors of the Territory of Hawaii
Territory of Hawaii judges
Princeton University alumni
University of Chicago Law School alumni
1883 births
1961 deaths
Justices of the Hawaii Supreme Court
Hawaii Democrats
20th-century American judges
Burials at Oahu Cemetery
People from Somerville, Tennessee