Oren Ethelbirt Long (March 4, 1889 – May 6, 1965) was an American politician who served as the tenth

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 1951 to 1953. A member of the

Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii ( haw, ʻAoʻao Demokalaka o Hawaiʻi) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention ...

, Long was appointed to the office after the term of

Ingram Stainback Ingram Macklin Stainback (May 12, 1883April 12, 1961) was an American politician. He served as the ninth Territorial Governor of Hawaii from 1942 to 1951. Early life Stainback was born in 1883 in Somerville, Tennessee. His father, Charles A. Stai ...

. After statehood was achieved he served in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

, one of the first two, along with

Hiram Fong Hiram Leong Fong (born Yau Leong Fong; October 15, 1906 – August 18, 2004) was an American businessman, lawyer, and politician from Hawaii. Born to a sugar plantation Cantonese immigrant worker, Fong became the first Chinese-American and firs ...

, to represent Hawaii in that body. Long was the only non-

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 peopl ...

U.S. Senator from Hawaii until the appointment of

Brian Schatz Brian Emanuel Schatz (; born October 20, 1972) is an American educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, Schatz served in the Hawaii House ...

to the position in 2012.

Life and career

Long was born in

Altoona, Kansas Altoona is a city in Wilson County, Kansas, United States, along the Verdigris River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 354. History Altoona was originally called Geddesburg when it was founded in 1869. It was renamed Alto ...

and attended

Johnson Bible College Johnson University is a private Christian university with its main campus in Kimberlin Heights, Tennessee, and a second campus in Kissimmee, Florida. It is affiliated with the Christian churches and churches of Christ, a branch of the Restorat ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the stat ...

, the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He first came to Hawaii in 1917 as a

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

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

. He then held various educational positions in the

public school system State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in p ...

, eventually serving as a superintendent from 1933 to 1946. He was appointed Governor of the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

Harry 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 ...

in 1951 and served until 1953. Long served in the Hawaii Territorial Senate from 1956-1959. On July 28, 1959 he was elected to one of the two Senate seats from the newly formed State of

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 ...

, and took office on August 21, 1959. The other Senator elected was Republican

. Long chose not to run for a full six-year term in 1962, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat and then-Rep.

Daniel Inouye Daniel Ken Inouye ( ; September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. Beginning in 1959, he was the first U.S. representative ...

, in January 1963. For his entire tenure Long was Hawaii's Senior Senator, as he took office the same day with fellow Senator from new state,

(with Long having a seniority edge due to being former Governor) Long appeared as a contestant on ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'' shortly after taking office. One of the panellists

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

recognised him immediately and disqualified himself from the round. After three rounds of questioning, the rest of the panel successfully guessed him to be the senator from Hawaii. He died in 1965 after suffering an attack of asthmatic bronchitis in

Honolulu 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 isla ...

and was buried in

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 ...

. Long's papers are stored at the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a public land-grant research university in Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the flagship campus of the University of Haw ...

in their Catalog for Archival Materials.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Oren E. 1889 births 1965 deaths 20th-century American politicians American Disciples of Christ Burials at Oahu Cemetery Columbia College (New York) alumni Democratic Party United States senators from Hawaii Governors of the Territory of Hawaii Hawaii Democrats Johnson University alumni People from Altoona, Kansas University of Michigan alumni