The postwar years ushered in important economic and social developments．There was a dramatic expansion of labor unionism，marked by major strikes in 1946，1949，and 1958．The International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union organized the waterfront（水边地码头区，滨水地区），sugar，and pineapple（凤梨，菠萝）workers．The tourist trade，which had grown to major proportions in the 1930s，expanded further with postwar advances in air travel and with further investment and development．The building boom brought about new construction of luxury（奢侈，华贵）hotels and housing developments；Hawaii is home to one of the world’s most expensively built resort，the Hyatt Regency Waikola，which cost 360million to construct．
After having sought statehood for many decades，Hawaii was finally admitted to the union on Aug．21，1959；although it was thought at first to be solidly Republican，the state has long been a Democratic stronghold．Movements for a return of some sort of native sovereignty have been periodically（周期性地，定时性地）active．
In Sept．，1992，the island of Kauai was devastated by Hurricane Iniki，the strongest hurricane（飓风，狂风）to hit the islands in the century．Hawaii，which had enjoyed sustained economic and population growth since the end of World War II，saw both slow in the 1990s，as tourism，the sugar industry，and Japanese investment in the islands（particularly important in the 1980s）declined．
Hawaii，2，397miles west－southwest of San Francisco，is a 1，523－mile chain of islets（小岛）and eight main islands Hawaii，Kahoolawe（卡霍奥拉维岛（在夏威夷）），Maui（毛伊岛（在太平洋中北部，夏威夷群岛中的第二大岛）），Lanai（拉奈岛（夏威夷中部的一座岛屿）），Molokai（莫洛凯岛［美国］（在太平洋中北部，属夏威夷群岛，是麻风病人的隔离地）），Oahu（瓦胡岛［美国］（在太平洋中北部，夏威夷群岛的主岛）），Kauai（考艾岛（在夏威夷）），and Niihau（尼豪岛（夏威夷群岛西北部的一座岛屿））．The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands，other than Midway，are administratively part of Hawaii．
The postwar period saw many rapid changes with the descendants of plantation laborers rising to the highest prominent in business，labor，and government．
Hawaii proved eager to take on the full responsibilities of statehood．Under the leadership of Hawaii’s last delegate（代表）to Congress，John A．Burns，the 86th Congress approved statehood and the bill was signed into law by President Dwight D．Eisenhower on March 18，1959．Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state of the union on August 21，1959．
Governor州长
Linda Lingle在2002年12月2日上台后，就提出三大发展关键，在任职头一年她主要集中精力提高夏威夷人们的生活，丰富经济运行模式，提高学校教育，在人们心目中重树了政府的信任和正直。在头一年里，她的管理在这些领域成绩卓有成效。她“为商业打开门户”的决策打造了本州10年以来最强大的经济实力。
When Governor Linda Lingle took office on December 2，2002，she laid out three priorities her Administration would focus on during its first term to make life better for all the people of Hawaii：restoring trust and integrity in government，expanding and diversifying（使多样化，作多样性的投资）the economy，and improving public education．
Within the first year，her Administration made significant progress in these areas．The Governor reformed the state’s procurement（获得，取得）code，bringing fairness and transparency（透明，透明度）to the process．Her “Open for Business”approach to working with the private sector has resulted in the strongest economy the state has experienced in over a decade，including one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation，strong job growth，record low bankruptcies and increasing personal income．
During her Administration’s first two years，Governor Lingle worked to return fiscal discipline（财政纪律）and accountability to state government，and to reverse the200million deficit she inherited．As required by the Hawaii State Constitution，the Governor and her Administration are adhering（坚持）to a six－year financial plan，with recurring expenses matched by recurring revenues．Through proper financial planning，the Administration has prevented the raiding of the Hurricane Relief Fund，as well as maintained adequate reserves in the Emergency and Budget Reserve Fund to keep these rainy day funds for true emergencies．As a result，the state is now in the black．
The Governor successfully made improving Hawaii’s public education system a statewide priority among legislators，educators and the community，and set the state on the course to achieving reforms that will benefit Hawaii’s students．She continues this effort to improve education opportunities for Hawaii’s residents by also focusing on preschool education（幼儿［学前］教育）and higher education initiatives．
The Administration is also battling crime and illicit（违法的）drugs，protecting the state’s fragile and unique environment，improving health care for all residents of Hawaii，fulfilling commitments to native Hawaiians，helping Hawaii’s most needy and enhancing homeland security．
Midway through her first term，Governor Lingle remains committed to building on the significant achievements of the past two years as well as collaborating（合作）with public，private and nonprofit partners to develop solutions to address the affordable housing shortage and homelessness，improve traffic and transportation statewide，and to make communities on all the Hawaiian islands safer．She is also promoting significant health initiatives including long－term care，investing in Hawaii’s future by expanding early childhood education and increasing funding for the University of Hawaii system，and lowering the cost of living by cutting taxes．
Governor Lingle is the sixth elected Governor of Hawaii and the first woman to lead the Aloha State since it achieved statehood in 1959．The Governor first served the people of Hawaii in 1980as a member of the Maui County Council．She went on to serve five two－year terms，three representing the island of Molokai．Linda Lingle was elected Mayor of Maui County in 1990．At age 37，she was the youngest person and the first woman to hold this office．In 1994，she won a second mayoral（市长的）term．Under her leadership，job growth was faster in Maui County than anywhere else in the state．