Benjamin Jerome Cayetano (14 November 1939-) was the Democratic Governor of Hawaii from 2 December 1994 to 2 December 2002, succeeding John Waihe'e and preceding Linda Lingle.
Biography[]
Benjamin Cayetano was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1939 to Filipino immigrant parents. He struggled in school before working at a junkyard, as a truck driver, as an electrician, and as a draftsman. In 1963, he and his family moved to Los Angeles due to discriminatory hiring practices in Hawaii, and he graduated frum UCLA and went on to become a lawyer. In 1972, Governor John A. Burns appointed Cayetano to the Hawaii Housing Authority, and he served in the state house before serving as Lieutenant Governor from 1986 to 1994 and then as Governor from 1994 to 2002. As Governor, he contended with economic uncertainty and fiscal problems, and his budget cuts were unpopular with his fellow Democrats. While he built 13 new schools and granted the University of Hawaii autonomy, he faced labor disputes from UH professors and public school teachers. He left office in 2002 and unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Honolulu in 2012.