36 Facts About Paul Caraway

Paul Wyatt Caraway was an American military officer who was the 3rd High Commissioner of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands.

Paul Caraway held the rank of lieutenant general in the United States Army.

Paul Caraway was the son of two influential Arkansas Senators, Hattie Caraway and Thaddeus Caraway.

Paul Caraway graduated from Georgetown University with a law degree and taught law at West Point.

Paul Caraway served on the General Staff for the United States Department of War before becoming deputy chief-of-staff to General Albert Coady Wedemeyer during World War II.

Paul Caraway served in numerous other positions, including accompanying Vice President Richard Nixon on a tour of Asia.

Paul Caraway held major influence as High Commissioner of the Ryukyu Islands during the 1960s.

Paul Caraway lowered electric prices and arrested several prominent banking figures for fraud, revamping the local banking industry in the process.

Paul Caraway refused to allow any increase in self-rule or autonomy, vetoing any bill from the local legislature that brought the islands closer to Japan and crushing autonomy movements.

Paul Caraway resisted reform efforts from Ambassador to Japan Edwin O Reischauer and President John F Kennedy.

Paul Caraway resigned from the office and the military in August 1964.

Paul Caraway graduated from Georgetown University and was admitted to the bar in 1933.

Paul Caraway practiced law in Heber Springs, Arkansas from 1965 to 1968 and then taught at Benjamin Franklin University in Washington, DC.

Sometimes called "Small Paul Caraway" because of his height, he was a noted workaholic whose only real hobby included collecting firearms.

Paul Caraway graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1929.

Paul Caraway received his commission as a Second Lieutenant the same year.

From 1938 to 1942, Paul Caraway taught law at West Point.

Paul Caraway served in the General Staff of the United States Department of War from 1942 to 1944.

Paul Caraway served as deputy chief of staff to General Albert Coady Wedemeyer in the China Burma India Theater of World War II.

Paul Caraway received the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his service during the war.

Paul Caraway accompanied then-Vice President of the United States Richard Nixon as part of his official party on a diplomatic mission to various countries in the eastern world.

Paul Caraway commanded the 7th Infantry Division from August 1955 to April 1956 in Korea.

Paul Caraway received a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster for his Distinguished Service Medal in 1964 as a lieutenant general.

Paul Caraway served as High Commissioner of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands from February 15,1961, to July 31,1964.

When Paul Caraway arrived on the island, he wore the three-star insignia of a lieutenant general, despite the fact that the United States Senate had not yet approved his promotion to that rank.

Paul Caraway further considered the occupation to be a positive force for Okinawa.

Paul Caraway viewed Ryukyu politicians as able but did not view them as equals in authority.

Paul Caraway ordered the lowering of electricity rates and reformed the island banking system after having a number of prominent bankers arrested on charges of fraud.

Paul Caraway squelched a local autonomy movement, earning him criticism from the leftist movement and praise from local businessmen.

Paul Caraway combated and repressed any movements in favor of reverting the islands to Japanese rule.

Paul Caraway vetoed bills from the Ryukyu legislature that would have brought the island closer to Japan, replacing them with directives distancing it.

Paul Caraway had an ongoing rivalry with Ambassador to Japan Edwin O Reischauer and frequently withheld key information from the embassy.

Reischauer favored Kennedy administration plans to give the island more autonomy and allow the Japanese government to provide the island with greater financial aid; Paul Caraway opposed all such measures, believing that they would eventually strip the United States of one of its most strategic bases.

When Paul Caraway suggested in a March 1963 speech that residents who desired autonomy for the Ryukyu Islands were incompetent to run a government for themselves, a large group of government workers began calling for his removal from office.

Paul Caraway retired from the position because of physical disability on August 1,1964, and Lieutenant General Albert Watson II succeeded him.

Paul Caraway died in Washington, DC on December 13,1985, at the age of 79.