Paul Caraway Paul Wyatt Caraway ( December 23 , 1905 – December 13 , 1985 ) was a United States Army Lieutenant General and the 3rd High Commissioner of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands . He was the son of two influential Arkansas Senators , Hattie Caraway and Thaddeus Caraway . Caraway graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1929 . He also graduated from Georgetown University with a law degree and taught law at West Point . He served on the General Staff for the United States Department of War before becoming deputy chief - of - staff to General Albert Coady Wedemeyer during World War II . He served in numerous other positions , including accompanying Richard Nixon on a tour of Asia . Following the Korean War , he became head of Army Research and Development . He never saw combat . Caraway held major influence as High Commissioner during the 1960s . He brought a new sense of economic prosperity to the island chain , turning it from one of the poorest area of Japan to one of the wealthier in east Asia . He lowered electric prices and arrested several prominent banking figures for fraud , revamping the local banking industry in the process . Despite this , many Okinawans saw him as autocratic . He refused to allow any increase in self - rule or autonomy , vetoing any bill from the local legislature that brought the islands closer to Japan and crushing autonomy movements . He resisted reform efforts from Ambassador to Japan Edwin O . Reischauer and President John F . Kennedy . He resigned from the office and the military in August 1964 . Life . Caraway was born on December 23 , 1905 in Jonesboro , Arkansas to Hattie Caraway , the first woman to be elected to the United States Senate and Thaddeus H . Caraway , also a Senator . He graduated from Georgetown University and was admitted to the bar in 1933 . He practiced law in Heber Springs , Arkansas from 1965 to 1968 and then taught at Benjamin Franklin University in Washington , D . C . Sometimes called " Small Paul Caraway " because of his height , he was a noted workaholic whose only real hobby included collecting firearm s . The Hoover Institution houses the Paul Wyatt Caraway papers , which cover the period of his life from 1953 to 1964 . Army career . Caraway graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1929 . He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant the same year . From 1935 to 1937 , he served with the 15th Infantry Regiment in Tientsin , China . From 1938 to 1942 , Caraway taught law at West Point . He served in the General Staff of the United States Department of War from 1942 to 1944 . He also served as deputy chief of staff to General Albert Coady Wedemeyer in the China Burma India Theater of World War II . He was promoted to brigadier general in 1945 . He received the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his service during the war . Despite his numerous staff positions during the war , Caraway never saw combat . From 1945 to 1946 he headed the Chungking Liaison group . In 1947 , he became an instructor at the National War College . In 1950 , he was stationed in Trieste , Italy . Caraway accompanied then - Vice President of the United States Richard Nixon as part of his official party on a diplomatic mission to various countries in the eastern world . Caraway commanded the 7th Infantry Division from August 1955 to April 1956 in Korea . From 1957 to 1958 , he chief of staff at the headquarters of the United States Forces in Japan . He received a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Distinguished Service Medal in 1964 as a lieutenant general . Following the Korean War , Caraway became the head of Army research and development . He retired as a lieutenant general . Tenure as High Commissioner . Caraway served as High Commissioner of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands from February 16 , 1961 to July 31 , 1964 . When Caraway arrived on the island , he wore the three - star insignia of a lieutenant general , despite the fact that the United States Senate had not yet approved his promotion to that rank . However , he felt that his need to establish immediate authority with the Okinawa public warranted his assumption of advancement ; the Senate did not learn of this episode and confirmed him shortly thereafter . While Commissioner , Caraway considered Okinawa an essential area of United States military control that provided defense against China . He further considered the occupation to be a positive force for Okinawa . The economy of the island grew under his governing , and he believed that a return of the island to Japan would result in authoritarian rule and discrimination against the natives . He viewed Ryukyu politicians as able but did not view them as equals in authority . Caraway ordered the lowering of electricity rates and reformed the island banking system after having a number of prominent bankers arrested on charges of fraud . Before the war the Ryukyus had the lowest per capita income of all Japanese provinces ; under Caraway , the island enjoyed one of the highest per capita incomes in all of Asia . Though he brought economic prosperity , many Okinawans and Japanese accused him of autocracy . He squelched a local autonomy movement , earning him criticism from the leftist movement and praise from local businessman . He also combated and repressed any movements in favor of reverting the islands to Japanese rule . He vetoed bills from the Ryukyu legislature that would have brought the island closer to Japan , replacing them with directives distancing it . His reputation eventually earned him the nickname " Typhoon Caraway " among islanders . He resisted any attempts to increase local self - government throughout his tenure , announcing " Okinawan self - government is nothing but a legend . " He had an ongoing rivalry with Ambassador to Japan Edwin O . Reischauer and frequently withheld key information from the embassy . Reischauer favored Kennedy administration plans to give the island more autonomy and allow the Japanese government to provide the island with greater financial aid ; Caraway opposed all such measures , believing that they would eventually strip the United States of one of its most strategic bases . Resichauer referred to Caraway as a " bull - headed man " and " autocratic " in his memoirs , with Caraway firing back that " he ' s useless . He ' s a menace , because he thinks he knows everything . . . and he knows nothing . " Caraway went so far as to accuse Resichauer of entering into a " conspiracy with the Japanese " to force American forces off the Ryukyus . In 1962 , President of the United States John F . Kennedy began an effort to give the residents of the Ryukyu islands . On of his methods was to restrict Caraway ' s power of veto by allowing him to overrule the Ryukyu Legislature only when necessary to protect the security interests of the United States . When Caraway suggested in a March 1963 speech that residents who desired autonomy for the Ryukyu Islands were incompetent to run a government for themselves , a large group of government workers began calling for his removal from office . A severe drought the same year forced Caraway to begin rationing water when reserves fell before 40 percent of capacity . He retired from the position on August 1 , 1964 and Lieutenant General Albert Watson II succeeded him .