Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton Celebrates Senate Approval of Alaska Statehood and Calls for Hawaii’s Admission (1958)

Date: July 1, 1958

Created By: Fred Seaton

Original or Replica: Original

Era: Alaska & Hawaii Statehood, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Records as President, Official File, Box 630, OF-147-D Alaska (4); NAID #12012401

In this July 1, 1958 statement, Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton responds to the Senate’s approval of legislation admitting Alaska as the 49th state. Seaton describes the decision as a victory not only for Alaska’s approximately 220,000 residents but for the entire United States. He argues that statehood would allow Alaska to contribute more fully to the nation’s economic and social development and presents its admission as an affirmation of representative government and government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Seaton also places the achievement within the long history of Alaska’s statehood movement, tracing congressional efforts back to Delegate James Wickersham’s introduction of a statehood bill in 1916. Although celebrating Alaska’s success, Seaton emphasizes that the broader statehood effort was not finished. He calls on Congress to admit Hawaii, noting that Hawaiian statehood had appeared in both major political parties’ platforms and had repeatedly received President Eisenhower’s support. Seaton argues that the same principles supporting Alaska’s admission applied equally to Hawaii and urges Congress to act quickly. The statement demonstrates how the campaigns for Alaska and Hawaii statehood were closely connected during the Eisenhower administration.