H Rex Lee

Early life and education

Lee was born in Rigby, Idaho on April 8, 1910. His parents had lived in Rigby for their whole lives. He attended the public schools of Jefferson County, Idaho before studying a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural science at the University of Idaho, graduating in 1936.

Early career

From June 1936 to July 1937, Lee worked as an economist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Resettlement Administration in Moscow, Idaho. He then joined the University of Idaho Extension Service and served a year as a county assistant agent in Pocatello. From November 1938 to June 1946, he worked in the War Relocation Authority that oversaw the Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. His service included overseeing the Division of Relocation and Evacuee Property.

In 1946, Lee transferred to the United States Department of the Interior as assistant chief of the Office of Territories. He was a consultant on loan to the United Nations in 1949, and spent three months travelling in the Near East conferring with Arab and Israeli leaders to assist refugees displaced by the Arab–Israeli conflict. During his time at the Office of Territories, he also played a key role in arranging the transfer of American Samoa from Navy jurisdiction to civilian jurisdiction.

Bureau of Indian Affairs

In 1950, Lee was appointed as associate commissioner and deputy commissioner of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. He was described as being "better known, probably, than almost anybody else in the Bureau on the Hill, in the Interior Committees, and was rather highly regarded up there by the chairman of the committees". He was also known for having a good working relationship with Wayne N. Aspinall, the chair of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. In the transition from Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration to John F. Kennedy's administration, Lee was effectively in charge of the Bureau, working with John A. Carver, Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Public Lands Management. This arrangement lasted for several months until Philleo Nash was confirmed as director of the bureau.

American Samoa

It was Carver who suggested a method of selecting the next Governor of American Samoa that avoided accusations of political bias. A panel of three, including Lee, was chosen. Delma H. Nucker was vetoed as a suggestion for being "too Eisenhower", Hillary A. Tolson, the deputy director of the Park Service, turned it down, and it was only after "much arm twisting" that Lee accepted the role. Lee's first term as Governor was from May 24, 1961 to July 31, 1967. Concurrently in 1961, US Air Force Major Eric J. Scanlan, a native Samoan, was appointed as Government Secretary, a role similar to Lieutenant Governor. Stewart Udall, the United States Secretary of the Interior, said that Lee was appointed as Governor due to his "unique experience and long familiarity in helping to solve" socio-economic problems similar to the ones American Samoa faced.

On June 21, 1963 Paramount Chief Tuli Le’iato of Faga’itua was sworn in and installed as the first Secretary of Samoan Affairs by Governor H. Rex Lee.  Under Lee, there were a number of new efforts and programs that took place. He created a cooperative where local Samoans had a share in a new hotel, he developed a fishing enterprise that employed local Samoans, he increased tourism, and also cleaned up the island. He also launched an educational TV business which was entirely his own conception and execution. Carver described it as "the kind of thing which only Rex Lee could have done". Udall later said that Lee "turned out to be one of our very best appointments, in my view. He was a bit authoritarian, but I think he did a very good job at Samoa and was really our star performer."

Later career and return to Samoa

Lee served as a Federal Communications Commission commissioner from 1968 to 1973 and was re-appointed as Governor of American Samoa, serving again from May 28, 1977 to January 3, 1978.

Death

Lee died at his home in San Diego, California, on July 26, 2001, at the age of 91. He had five children (three daughters and two sons). He was a friend of entertainment mogul Walt Disney, who visited the Lee family and stayed at their home. His wife, Lillian Lee, died in April 2010 at the age of 97.