Hawaii, the fiftieth state in the Union when it was added in 1959, was first prized as a possession for its sugar and its location as a base of trade from linking toward the nations of Japan and China. Although they had been an independent monarchical system for years, the United States began to have its economic interests infringe upon Hawaii's government. Believing that economic interests came first, President Grover Cleveland supported the actions of Sanford Dole, an American entrepreneur, to seize the Hawaiian government and depose Queen Liliuokalani, sister of the last King, Kalakaua, (photo to left) with the use of American Marines in 1893. By establishing this new republic, America's pineapple magnate was able to push toward annexation, which President William McKinley supported in 1898. McKinley, the 25th Chief Executive, believed that America required the Hawaiian Islands just as badly as they once needed California.
Thus, with the annexation of Hawaii, Alfred Thayer Mahan and other naval leaders had a key naval base, Pearl Harbor, that would ensure a safe haven for the Navy and various merchant ships that sought trade further East.
Thus, with the annexation of Hawaii, Alfred Thayer Mahan and other naval leaders had a key naval base, Pearl Harbor, that would ensure a safe haven for the Navy and various merchant ships that sought trade further East.