page_title: Paul Nahaolelua
section_title: Issue of succession, 1872–1874
hierarchical_section_title: Paul Nahaolelua / Political career / Issue of succession, 1872–1874
caption_attribution_description: English: King Kamehameha V, his family members and royal court including Queen Emma, Prince Lunalilo, Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, John William Pitt Kīnaʻu, Mataio Kekūanāoʻa, Paul Nahaolelua and others, illustration from The World in the Hands, engraved by Henri Theophile Hildibrand (1824-1897), published 1878 (engraving) , artist: Émile-Antoine Bayard (1837-1891) (after). Drawing by Émile Bayard, based on assorted photographs.
context_page_description: Paul Nahaolelua was a Hawaiian high chief who served many political posts in the Kingdom of Hawaii, including Governor of Maui from 1852 to 1874. In his long political career, Nahaolelua served under the reigns of five monarchs: Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V, Lunalilo and Kalākaua.
context_section_description: In 1872, Nahaolelua was present at the deathbed of King Kamehameha V. Kneeling at the side of bed, with many of the members of the royal court present, he spoke with the monarch in his last attempts to name a successor to the throne. Kamehameha V, who regarded him as a close friend and business associate, asked Nahaolelua to choose an heir for him. He refused and answered, "Any one, may it please Your Majesty, of the chiefs now present." The King attempted to name his cousin Bernice Pauahi Bishop but she refused the offer, and he died the same day without naming a successor.
  Because Kamehameha V died with no heir, the constitution called for the legislature, which Nahaolelua presided over as President of the Legislative Assembly, to select the next monarch. By both popular vote, and the unanimous vote in the legislature, Lunalilo became the first elected king of Hawaii in 1873. 
  In private, Nahaolelua tried to persuade the new king to name a successor so the kingdom would not face another succession crisis. However, after a short reign, Lunalilo died in 1874 without an heir to succeed to him. In the election that followed, David Kalākaua, ran against Queen Emma, the widow of Kamehameha IV.
  On February 12, 1874, for the second time in Hawaiian history, a special session of the legislature was called to elect a new monarch, and Nahaolelua was chosen again as the President of the Legislative Assembly.
  The assembly voted thirty-nine to six in favor of Kalākaua. The subsequent announcement caused a riot at the courthouse as Emmaite supporters attacked and beat the native legislators who had voted for Kalākaua. American and British troops were landed, and the rioters were arrested. Nahaolelua, a known supporter and friend of Queen Emma, had left the courthouse before the riot, to bring her the news of her defeat. She reportedly sent him back with the message: "If they could not obtain their desires now, perhaps they had better wait until the morrow, when a new election for Sovereign could be had." The next day Queen Emma asked Nahaolelua about the possibility of holding a second election which he refused.
caption: Governor Nahaolelua (center, right) socializing with other members of the royal court during the reign of Kamehameha V.
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