Daniel Akaka

Daniel Kahikina Akaka ( born September 11, 1924 in Honolulu, Hawaii Territory ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party of the State of Hawaii represented in both houses of Congress from 1990 to 2013.

Akaka served from 1945 to 1947 in the U.S. Army, then studied at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he received his Bachelor of Education in 1952. From 1953 to 1960 Akaka worked as a teacher. His first political office he assumed on January 3, 1977 as a delegate in the House of Representatives of the United States, where he became the successor of the exchanged in the U.S. Senate Spark Matsunaga. Akaka was re-elected six times.

When Senator Matsunaga on April 15, 1990 died, Daniel Akaka was appointed by Governor John Waihee as his successor. He moved within the Congress on 16 May 1990 in the Senate and was subsequently confirmed three times in office. Most recently, he won in 2006 with 61.8 percent of the vote against Republican Cynthia Thielen. Previously, he had prevailed in the Democratic Primary with a vote share of 53 percent compared to Congressman Ed Case. From 2007 to 2011 Akaka was in the Senate Chairman of the Veterans Committee; In January 2011, he took over the leadership of the Committee on Indian Affairs from the precipitated Byron Dorgan.

On 2 March 2011 Akaka announced as the seventh President- Senator, that he would not re-apply for the 2012 election to his seat. It was " the right time " for his resignation, said the at this time 86 -year-old senator. When his successor the Democratic Congressman Mazie Hirono was elected, who then replaced him on January 3, 2013.