Early and Legislative Years
Doi attended the University of Hawaii, where he was president of the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii from December 1944 to June 1945 (Yim).
Doi began his political career at the 1950 Hawaiʻi State Constitutional Convention that drafted the first state laws for Hawaiʻi that went into effect in 1959. During that Convention, Doi noted “a frustration that began to ferment” amongst the delegates (Arakawa and Pang). In the 1954 election, that frustration led to a huge victory for the Democrats, who seized control of what had been a territory dominated by Republicans. Doi, representing Hawaii Island, was one of the victorious Democrats. Other Democrats first elected in 1954 included U.S. Senator Dan Inouye, former Governor George Ariyoshi, the late U.S. Senator Spark Matsunaga.
After that victory in 1954, Doi then served in the Hawaii Territorial Senate in 1955-1959 and then in the Hawaiʻi State Senate from 1959 to 1969. During his tenure in the Senate, Doi was frequently at odds with Governor John A. Burns and Senate Democratic leaders (McDannald).
In 1968, Doi was one of 82 delegates to the Hawaii Constitutional Convention held at McKinley High School. Among the issues addressed at the Convention were reapportioning legislative districts, mandating an annual 60-day legislative session, lengthening the terms of judges, authorizing collective bargaining for public employees, strengthening privacy rights for individuals, enhancing county home rule, and creating the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Other prominent political figures who were among the delegates were George Ariyoshi, Frank Fasi, and Patricia Saiki.
Read more about this topic: Nelson Doi
Famous quotes containing the words early, legislative and/or years:
“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man’s training begins, its probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.”
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“I find it profoundly symbolic that I am appearing before a committee of fifteen men who will report to a legislative body of one hundred men because of a decision handed down by a court comprised of nine men—on an issue that affects millions of women.... I have the feeling that if men could get pregnant, we wouldn’t be struggling for this legislation. If men could get pregnant, maternity benefits would be as sacrosanct as the G.I. Bill.”
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“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
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