# List of governors of American Samoa

This is a list of governors, etc. of the part of the Samoan Islands (now comprising American Samoa) under United States administration since 1900.
From 1900 to 1978 governors were appointed by the Federal government of the United States. Since that time they have been elected for 4-year terms by the people of American Samoa.

## History

When the Department of the Interior sent four governors in a three-year period, local Samoans began advocating for choosing their own governors. In the late 1940s, a Navy Governor, as well as an Interior Governor, had expressed their beliefs that High Orator Chief Tuiasosopo would be a suitable governor. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Peter Tali Coleman as Governor of American Samoa, the first person of Samoan descent to occupy that role. Coleman, a member of the Republican Party, was a U.S. Army officer with a law degree from Georgetown University. After his presidential appointment, local residents became increasingly aware that Samoans can do the job just as good as the federal government, which until now had appointed governors to the islands. Soon local lawmakers such as Governor Owen Aspinall and H. Rex Lee favored the idea of locals being elected governors. On the other side was Governor John Morse Haydon, who openly opposed the idea. An administrative judge criticized Haydon and following a Pago Pago hearing, the Department of the Interior began distancing itself from Haydon and soon replaced him with a new governor. The concept of an elected governor was proposed with Senate Bill 20 and a Gubernatorial Commission was created in order to consider ways to implement the concept of electing governors.
In a 1977 article from the New York Times, it describes how opposition to an appointed Governor began with the appointment of Earl B. Ruth. Within eighteen months, the congressman from North Carolina had removed several Samoans in administrative posts, who had been appointed by former Governor John Morse Haydon. Governor Ruth was soon recalled to Washington, DC and was later quoted for having called Samoans "lazy, thieving liars." After having turned down the proposal to elect their own Governor in three plebiscites, American Samoans in a 1976 referendum overwhelmingly approved the measure in which allowed them to elect that official. The first popularly elected Governor was Peter Tali Coleman that same year.
Te'o J. Fuavai was one of the earliest proponents of the movement to elect Governors in American Samoa, as opposed to Governors being appointed by the federal government. Fuavai sponsored a resolution that proposed the Department of the Interior to permit elections.

## Appointed governors (1900–1978)
### Naval administrators (1900–1951)

| Term | Incumbent | Notes |
| February 17, 1900 – November 27, 1901 | Benjamin Franklin Tilley, Commandant | April 17, 1900: Treaty of Cession of Tutuila |
| November 27, 1901 – December 16, 1902 | Uriel Sebree, Commandant | |
| December 16, 1902 – May 5, 1903 | Henry Minett, acting Commandant | |
| May 5, 1903 – January 30, 1905 | Edmund Beardsley Underwood, Commandant/Governor | July 16, 1904: Treaty of Cession of Manu'a |
| January 30, 1905 – May 21, 1908 | Charles Brainard Taylor Moore, Governor | |
| May 21, 1908 – November 10, 1910 | John Frederick Parker, Governor | |
| November 10, 1910 – March 14, 1913 | William Michael Crose, Governor | July 17, 1911: U.S. Naval Station Tutuila renamed American Samoa |
| March 14 – July 14, 1913 | Nathan Post, acting Governor | First term |
| July 14, 1913 – October 2, 1914 | Clark Daniel Stearns, Governor | |
| October 2, 1914 – December 6, 1914 | Nathan Post, acting Governor | Second term |
| December 6, 1914 – March 1, 1915 | Charles Armijo Woodruff, acting Governor | |
| March 1, 1915 – June 10, 1919 | John Martin Poyer, Governor | |
| June 10, 1919 – November 3, 1920 | Warren Terhune, Governor | Committed suicide |
| November 11, 1920 – March 1, 1922 | Waldo A. Evans, Governor | |
| March 1, 1922 – September 4, 1923 | Edwin Taylor Pollock, Governor | |
| September 4, 1923 – March 17, 1925 | Edward Stanley Kellogg, Governor | |
| March 17, 1925 – September 9, 1927 | Henry Francis Bryan, Governor | |
| September 9, 1927 – August 2, 1929 | Stephen Victor Graham, Governor | February 20, 1929: U.S. Congress recognized the cession of Tutuila and Manu'a by their chiefs, with retrospective to 16 July 1904. |
| August 2, 1929 – March 24, 1931 | Gatewood Lincoln, Governor | First term |
| March 24 – April 22, 1931 | James Sutherland Spore, acting Governor | |
| April 22 – July 17, 1931 | Arthur Emerson, acting Governor | |
| July 17, 1931 – May 12, 1932 | Gatewood Lincoln, Governor | Second term |
| May 12, 1932 – April 10, 1934 | George Landenberger, Governor | |
| April 10–17, 1934 | Thomas C. Latimore, acting Governor | |
| April 17, 1934 – January 15, 1936 | Otto Dowling, Governor | |
| January 15–20, 1936 | Thomas Benjamin Fitzpatrick, acting Governor | |
| January 20, 1936 – June 3, 1938 | MacGillivray Milne, Governor | |
| June 26, 1938 – July 30, 1940 | Edward Hanson, Governor | |
| July 30 – August 8, 1940 | Jesse Wallace, acting Governor | |
| August 8, 1940 – June 5, 1942 | Laurence Wild, Governor | Henry Louis Larsen served as Military Governor from January 17 to April 25, 1942 |
| June 5, 1942 – February 8, 1944 | John Gould Moyer, Governor | |
| February 8, 1944 – January 27, 1945 | Allen Hobbs, Governor | |
| January 27 – September 3, 1945 | Ralph Hungerford, Governor | |
| September 3–10, 1945 | Samuel Canan, acting Governor | |
| September 10, 1945 – April 22, 1947 | Harold Houser, Governor | |
| April 22, 1947 – June 15, 1949 | Vernon Huber, Governor | |
| July 7, 1949 – February 23, 1951 | Thomas Darden, Governor | |

### Civilian governors (1951–1978)

| Governor | Took office | Left office | Party |
| Phelps Phelps (1897–1981) | February 23, 1951 | June 20, 1952 | Republican |
| John C. Elliott (1919–2001) | July 16, 1952 | November 23, 1952 | Democratic |
| James Arthur Ewing (1916–1996) | November 28, 1952 | March 4, 1953 | Democratic |
| Lawrence M. Judd (1887–1968) | March 4, 1953 | August 5, 1953 | Republican |
| Richard Barrett Lowe (1902–1972) | August 5, 1953 | October 15, 1956 | Republican |
| Peter Tali Coleman (1919–1997) | October 13, 1956 | May 24, 1961 | Republican |
| H. Rex Lee (1910–2001) | May 24, 1961 | July 31, 1967 | Democratic |
| Owen Aspinall (1927–1997) | August 1, 1967 | July 31, 1969 | Democratic |
| John Morse Haydon (1920–1991) | August 1, 1969 | October 14, 1974 | Republican |
| Frank Mockler (1909–1993) (acting) | October 14, 1974 | February 6, 1975 | Republican |
| Earl B. Ruth (1916–1989) | February 6, 1975 | September 30, 1976 | Republican |
| Frank Barnett (1933–2016) | October 1, 1976 | May 27, 1977 | Republican |
| H. Rex Lee (1910–2001) | May 28, 1977 | January 3, 1978 | Democratic |

## Elected governors (1978–present)

| S. No. | Governor | Tenure | Party | Elected | Lieutenant Governor |
| 1 | Peter Tali Coleman (1919–1997) | January 3, 1978 – January 3, 1985 | Republican | 1977 1980 | Tufele Liamatua |
| 2 | A. P. Lutali (1919–2002) | January 3, 1985 – January 2, 1989 | Democratic | 1984 | Eni Faleomavaega |
| 3 | Peter Tali Coleman (1919–1997) | January 2, 1989 – January 3, 1993 | Republican | 1988 | Galea'i Peni Poumele |
| 3 | Peter Tali Coleman (1919–1997) | January 2, 1989 – January 3, 1993 | Republican | 1988 | Gaioi Tufele Galeai |
| 4 | A. P. Lutali (1919–2002) | January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997 | Democratic | 1992 | Tauese Sunia |
| 5 | Tauese Sunia (1941–2003) | January 3, 1997 – March 26, 2003 | Democratic | 1996 2000 | Togiola Tulafono |
| – | Togiola Tulafono (born 1947) | March 26, 2003 – April 7, 2003 | Democratic | 2004 2008 | Himself |
| 6 | Togiola Tulafono (born 1947) | April 7, 2003 – January 3, 2013 | Democratic | 2004 2008 | Faoa Aitofele Sunia |
| 7 | Lolo Matalasi Moliga (born 1947) | January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2021 | Independent | 2012 2016 | Lemanu Peleti Mauga |
| 7 | Lolo Matalasi Moliga (born 1947) | January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2021 | Democratic | 2012 2016 | Lemanu Peleti Mauga |
| 8 | Lemanu Peleti Mauga (born 1960) | January 3, 2021 – January 3, 2025 | Democratic | 2020 | Eleasalo Ale |
| 9 | Pula Nikolao Pula (born 1955) | January 3, 2025 – present | Republican | 2024 | Pulu Ae Ae Jr. |