Ingram Macklin Stainback (May 12, 1883April 12, 1961) was an American politician. He served as the ninth

Territorial Governor of Hawaii , insignia = Logo of the Office of the Governor of Hawaii.png , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Gubernatorial logo , flag = Flag of the Governor of Hawaii.svg , flagborder = yes , flagcaption = Standard of the Governor , image ...

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 university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

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 stat ...

shortly after graduation and was appointed by Democratic Governor

Lucius E. Pinkham Lucius Eugene Pinkham (September 19, 1850 – November 2, 1922) was the fourth Territorial Governor of Hawaii, serving from 1913 to 1918. Pinkham was the first member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii to become governor. Early life 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 Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ...

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, j ...

. 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 in ...

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. Robert Charlwood Richardson Jr. (October 27, 1882 – March 2, 1954) was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on October 27, 1882, and was admitted as a cadet at the United States Military Academy on June 19, 1900. His military career spanned the ...

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 so ...

were plotting to take over the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

. 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 A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

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 Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Hawaii (island), Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 United ...

at to Kulani Correctional Facility, a medium security state prison at . His son,

Macklin Fleming Macklin Fleming (September 6, 1911 – May 27, 2010) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice on the California Court of Appeal, covering the Second Appellate District, Division 2, from 1964 until his retirement in 1981. He previ ...

, 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