Peter Tali Coleman

Peter Tali Coleman (December 8, 1919 – April 28, 1997) was an American Samoan politician and lawyer. Coleman was the first and only person of Samoan descent to be appointed governor of American Samoa between 1956 and 1961 and later became the territory's first and third popularly elected governor from 1978 to 1985 and 1989 to 1993, serving a total of three elected terms. In between, he had served in different administrative positions for Pacific islands.

Born to an American navy officer and a native mother in American Samoa, he grew up there and in Hawaii and participated in World War II, before becoming a lawyer and then returning to American Samoa to practice law there. In 1955 he was briefly appointed by the Republican federal government as the first Attorney General of American Samoa and then became governor in 1956. During his first administration, Coleman chaired the convention that drafted the Constitution of American Samoa, containing the bill of rights and providing protection for Samoans against alienation of their lands and loss of their culture. His administration also laid the foundation for the American Samoa Fono legislature and produced the official seal and flag of American Samoa. When the Democrats overtook the federal government, he was replaced and appointed to different administrative positions for Pacific islands.

He came back to American Samoa once more in 1977 to run for the first gubernatorial election of the territory. After American Samoans had finally approved electing their own governor in that year, he was elected the first and third governor in 1977, 1980, and 1988 over his Democratic rival A. P. Lutali each time, losing against him in 1992. He also was the founding chairman of the territory's Republican Party, serving from 1985 to 1988. He was the first Republican governor in American Samoa and one of only two Republicans to hold the office, with the other being Pula Nikolao Pula who is the ninth and current governor as of May 2025.

Coleman's career spanned over the entire second half of the 20th century. He is the only governor in the United States whose service spanned five decades and one of the longest-serving governors of any jurisdiction in American history. He was a recipient of the 1997 American Samoan Governor's Humanitarian Award and gained the chiefly title Uifa’atali from his home village of Pago Pago. The Peter Tali Coleman Lecture on Pacific Public Policy has been a part of the Pacific Islands Project at Georgetown University, where Coleman received his degree. In 1978, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Chaminade University of Honolulu and in 1970 one from the University of Guam. He served in American Samoa both as a public defender and as the territory's attorney general.

Death and legacy Peter Coleman and Nora Stewart of Honolulu were married in 1941. They had thirteen children, twenty-three grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Coleman died in 1997 in Honolulu after a two-year struggle with liver cancer.

Coleman's legacy includes the effort to incorporate American Samoa in the Social Security system and the recognition and promotion of tourism as an economic development strategy. He began to rebuild and expand the Tafuna Airstrip to take jet planes. The policy for local autonomy moved further during his years as Governor.

At the conclusion of Coleman's three-year term, Coleman cited some of the achievements that made him proud. These included changes to the judiciary system with the addition of the district and village courts, the start of the Teacher Corps program, the addition of renal dialysis at LBJ Hospital, and the completion of the Aua-Top Mle and Aoa-Amouli roads.

Coleman was responsible for the territory's membership in the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Regional Western Governors Association.

1940-45: U.S. Army infantry servicing in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Hawai'i 1946-47: Staff Secretary for Senator George H. Bender 1951: Received a law degree from Georgetown University, where he was a John Hay Whitney Foundation fellow 1951-52: Pacific area analyst at the Interior Department in Washington, DC 1952-55: Public Defender of American Samoa 1955-56: Attorney General of American Samoa 1956: Appointed Governor of American Samoa 1961: Appointed district administrator of the Marshall Islands 1965: Named district administrator of the Mariana Islands 1969: Named deputy high commissioner of the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 1977: Became first elected Governor of American Samoa 1980: Elected to a second term as Governor 1980: Co-founded the Pacific Basin Development Council 1979: Inducted into the U.S. Army Officers' Candidate School Hall of Fame in Fort Benning, GA 1985: Honorary Consul for the Republic of Nauru 1985-88: Co-founding chairman of the Republican Party of American Samoa 1988: Member of the U.S. delegation to the centenary observance of the U.S.-Tonga Treaty of Friendship 1988: Served as a counsel to the Pacific Advisory Committee of George Bush's Fund for America's Future 1989: Elected to a third term as Governor 1992: Chairman of American Samoa's Bush-Quayle 1992 committee 1992: Honorary national chair of Asian Americans for Bush-Quayle '92 1992-93: Chairman of the Offshore Governor's Forum