Joseph Poindexter

Joseph Boyd Poindexter (b. 1869) was the eighth Territorial Governor of Hawaii, serving from 1934 to 1942.

Born in Canyon City, Oregon, Poindexter attended Ohio Wesleyan University and earned his LL.B. degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He was admitted to the Montana Bar in 1892, and served as County Attorney of Beaverhead County, Montana from 1897 to 1903. He later served as a district judge in Montana from 1909 to 1915, and as Montana Attorney General from 1915 to 1917.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Poindexter as United States District Judge for Hawaii. Poindexter served in that capacity from May 14, 1917 to February 16, 1924. He then practiced law in Hawaii until March 1, 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Poindexter the eighth governor of Hawaii.

A joint Congressional Committee visited Hawaii in 1937 and submitted a report in February 1938 recommending a plebiscite for Hawaii statehood. The plebiscite, held on November 5, 1940, resulted in the voters recommending statehood for Hawaii.

Poindexter was reappointed to the governorship by Roosevelt in March 1938; he became only the second governor to that point to serve more than one term of office.

In the immediate aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the landing of Japanese troops on Oahu the following day, Poindexter placed the territory under martial law and allowed the U.S. military to form a military government. The military government was short-lived, as the American forces, suprised and overwhelmed, formally surrendered in February, 1942.

Poindexter was present at the ceremonial surrender, held at Iolani Palace, where he, General Walter Short, and Admiral Husband Kimmel handed control to the Japanese government.