Manuel Guerrero

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Manuel Flores (Carson) Leon Guerrero (1914 - 1985) was the appointed governor of Guam from March 9, 1963 until July 1969.^[1]

1 Early career
2 Appointment
3 First Term
4 Second Term
5 Notes

[edit] Early career

Guerrero first served in the First Guam Legislature in 1951-1952 as the chair of the Rules commitee. He also served in several executive branch positions before being appointed secretary of Guam under Governor Bill Daniel.^[1]

[edit] Appointment

Governor Daniel resigned from his position in September 1962, but his resignation wasn't accepted by President John F. Kennedy until January 1963. Meanwhile, Daniel went on a world tour during this period. After Daniel departed Guam, Guerrero was left in charge, as the next highest public official, until a new governor was appointed.^[1]

During this time, Supertyphoon Karen hit Guam in November 1962, destroying much of Guam and leaving Guerrero to deal with the aftermath. Guerrero dealt with the situation well, leading to his appointment as governor of Guam by President Kennedy.^[1]

[edit] First Term

During his first term as governor, Guerrero established the Guam Tourist Commission whose purpose was to move the island's economy away from military dependence to one based on commercial tourism. The Commission’s efforts were realized on May 1, 1967, when a Pan American World Airways flight arrived on Guam with 109 tourists from neighboring Japan. Over the course of that year, more than 6,000 visitors arrived on Guam.^[2] As of the early 2000's, tourism now accounts for over a million visitors a year to the island.^[3]