Hiram Fong Hiram Leong Fong ( ) , born Yau Leong Fong ( October 15 , 1906 – August 18 , 2004 ) , was an American businessman and politician from Hawaii . He is most notable for his service as Republican United States Senator from 1959 to 1977 , and for being the first Asian American and Chinese American to be elected as such . In 1964 , Fong became the first Asian American to run for his party ' s nomination for President of the United States . As of 2012 , he is the only Republican to ever hold a Senate seat from Hawaii and the only Asian American to actively seek the Presidential nomination of the Republican Party . He would be followed by Patsy Mink , also from Hawaii , who sought the nomination of the Democratic Party in 1972 . Early years . Fong was born in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kalihi on the island of Oahu as the seventh of 11 children of father Fong Sau Howe and mother Fong Lum Shee . He attended local public schools and graduated from McKinley High School in 1924 . In 1930 , Fong obtained a degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and in 1935 obtained a law degree from Harvard University . He returned to Honolulu and worked in the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu . In 1938 , Fong went into private legal practice and founded the firm of Fong , Miho , Choy and Robinson . In 1942 , he changed his name to " Hiram " . During World War II he served as a major in the United States Army Air Forces as a Judge Advocate , later retiring as a colonel from the United States Air Force Reserve . In 1952 , along with five other island families , Hiram Fong started Finance Factors , one of the first industrial and consumer loan companies , to service the growing minorities who were seeking to start new businesses and buy homes . Political years . The same year he founded his law office , Fong entered elected political life as a member of the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives where he became Speaker of the House from 1948 to 1954 . During this time , he was one of the front most leaders in the fight to make Hawaii a state . He was forced into retirement when the Democratic Party of Hawaii successfully ended a Hawaii Republican Party stronghold over the Hawaii Territorial Legislature by voting most Republican incumbents out of office . Fong founded several businesses after leaving the legislature . Upon achieving statehood through the Admission Act of 1959 , Hawaii returned Fong to elected office becoming one of its first United States Senators . He served alongside former Governor of Hawaii Oren E . Long , a career Democrat and popular territorial leader . Fong sought civil rights legislation in the Senate and supported both the Vietnam War and President Nixon during the Watergate scandal . He twice ran favorite son campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination , in 1964 and 1968 . In 1964 , he became the first Asian American to receive votes for president at a major party convention , receiving the votes of the Hawaii and Alaska delegations . Fong was the first Hawaii - born individual to run for President of the United States . Papers . The Papers of Hiram L . Fong were donated to the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library in August 1998 when over 1000 boxes , crates and trunks of documents , photographs , videos , and memorabilia at the senator ' s home were delivered to the University of Hawaii for inventorying , fumigation and preliminary processing . Along with the papers , Sen . Fong also provided generous financial support towards their preservation and processing . The bulk of the papers cover the years that Sen . Fong served in Congress , from August 1959 to January 1977 . Included in the collection are series of Washington office files , Hawaii office files , Post Office and Civil Service Committee ( POCS ) materials , campaign memorabilia , photographs , and political souvenirs . Also in the papers are a few professional and personal materials from his pre - Congressional life such as Harvard Law School notes . Approximately 80 boxes of books accompanied Sen . Fong ' s papers , several dedicated to him for his important work on Senate committees such as the Post Office and Civil Service Committee . A few of the books were kept with the congressional collection but the majority were added to the book collections of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library . A gift book plate was designed for these incorporating the senator ' s noted signature . The papers were processed in 2003 by archivist Dorothy " Dee " Hazelrigg , and are available to researchers in the Archives & Manuscripts Department by appointment . A Finding Aid , which provides detailed listings of the materials , is available at The Sen . Hiram L . Fong Papers web site . Personal life . Fong married Ellyn Lo in 1938 ; they had four children . After retiring from the Senate , Fong faced financial and legal difficulties , including several lawsuits with a son over the family ' s businesses that forced him and his wife to declare bankruptcy in 2003 . They managed a garden of that was opened to the public in 1988 . He worked in the garden until a week before his death . Fong was a Congregationalist , and was buried in Oahu Cemetery .