Benjamin Jerome Cayetano (born November 14, 1939) is an American politician and author who served as the fifth governor of the State of Hawaii from 1994 to 2002. He’s also the first Filipino-American that served as a state governor in the United States.
Biography
Ben Cayetano was born on November 14, 1939 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Cayetano was estranged from his mother at a young age. He was raised by his father in Kalihi, an ethnic Filipino neighborhood west of Downtown Honolulu.
In Kalihi, he attended Wallace Rider Farrington High School, a public school aptly known locally as “Home of the Governors” as its buildings were named after several early Hawaiʻi statesmen. The school was only a few blocks from his home. Cayetano received poor grades throughout his years at Farrington and was often disciplined by his teachers and counselors. He barely made marks qualifying him to graduate.
Personal Life
He has also been married two times. He divorced his first wife, Lorraine Cayetano, in 1996. He was married to her for 37 years. With the divorce, he became the first sitting governor of Hawaii to divorce while in office.
Currently, Cayetano is married to his second wife, Vicky Cayetano. They got married on May 5, 1997. Vicky was the CEO of United Laundry Services at the time of their wedding. Also, she played a major supporting role opposite Elvis Presley in the musical film, It Happened at the World’s Fair.
Ben Cayetano has five children. He has three children from his first marriage to Lorraine Cayetano: Brandon, Janeen, and Samantha. Vicky Cayetano also has two children, Marissa and William, from a previous marriage. He appeared as himself in an episode of Baywatch Hawaii in 1999.