Lawyer, Politician, and Businessman. The grandson of two of the first Christian missionaries to Hawaii, Thurston was prominent in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the imposition of the Republic of Hawaii. His ultimate goal was the annexation of Hawaii by the United States, which was accomplished in 1898. In 1886, he became a member of the legislature of the Hawaiian kingdom. His conservative, pro-business philosophy put him in conflict with the Hawaiian royalty. In 1887, he authored the "Bayonet Constitution" which stripped King Kalakaua of his executive power and made Thurston the powerful Interior Minister. Voting rights and legislative membership were based on property ownership which effectively put the islands under the control of wealthy Americans and Europeans. In 1891, Queen Lili'uokalani tried to restore the power of the monarchy with a new constitution. She was thwarted in her efforts when Thurston's Committee of Safety, backed by the US military, imposed the Provisional Government of Hawaii and continued to seek annexation by the United states. A proposed annexation treaty negotiated with the Harrison administration was disavowed by President Cleveland in 1893. Thurston helped draft a new constitution and the Republic of Hawaii was declared on July 4, 1894. Thurston selected Sanford B. Dole to be President of the Republic of Hawaii. With the advent of the Spanish-American War in April of 1898, American interest in Hawaiian annexatiion was revived. In July of 1898, Hawaiian annexation was accomplished by means of a joint resolution in Congress called the Newlands Resolution. Thurston then turned his attention to his business affairs. In 1898, he purchased the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, which became the Honolulu Advetiser and enthuisiastically promoted the sugar, pineapple, and railroad industries. He is credited with bringing the first electric street cars to Honolulu. Thurston was also an amateur volcanologist who lobbied for the creation of what eventually became Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. In 1891, he bought the Vocano House that was at the rim of Kilauea Volcano on the big island of Hawaii. His promotional efforts and fund raising eventually bore fruit wih the creation of the national park in 1916. In 1913, he explored a lava tube on the edge of Kilauea that is named after him.