Career
Matsunaga grew up on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i and graduated from Kaua'i High School. He attended the University of Hawai'i and received his bachelor's degree in 1941. He became a United States Army Reservist in 1941, volunteered for active duty in July that year, and was twice wounded in battle while serving with the renowned 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion. After his release from the Army as a Captain, Matsunaga entered Harvard Law School, graduating in 1951. He served as a public prosecutor and private-practice attorney, and was a member of both the Hawaiian statehood delegation to Congress and the territorial legislature before being elected in 1962 to the House of Representatives, where he served until 1976. That year, with Hiram Fong retiring, Matsunaga defeated Hawaii's other House representative, Patsy Mink for the Democratic Party nomination for Senator, making his November election to the position a near certainty in heavily Democratic Hawaii. Matsunaga went on to serve in the United States Senate from 1977 until his death in 1990.
Matsunaga went to Toronto General Hospital for treatment and died in Toronto on April 15, 1990 at the age of 73 from prostate cancer. His flag draped casket lay in state in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Honolulu.
Matsunaga was known for his sense of humor. One famous incident occurred involved Matsunaga and then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig at a White House reception for Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki in 1981. Haig reportedly mistook Matsunaga for a member of the Japanese delegation and asked if he spoke English. Matsunaga replied, "Yes, Mr. Secretary, I do — and I had the honor of voting for your confirmation the other day." Matsunaga became a well-known figure in Asia as the incident is often cited by Asian American and Asian media.
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