American Samoa It was Carver who suggested a method of selecting the next
Governor of American Samoa that avoided accusations of political bias. A panel of three, including Lee, was chosen. Delma H. Nucker was vetoed as a suggestion for being "too Eisenhower", Hillary A. Tolson, the deputy director of the Park Service, turned it down, and it was only after "much arm twisting" that Lee accepted the role.
Stewart Udall, the
United States Secretary of the Interior, said that Lee was appointed as Governor due to his "unique experience and long familiarity in helping to solve" socio-economic problems similar to the ones American Samoa faced. On June 21, 1963, Paramount Chief
Tuli Leʻiato of
Fagaʻitua was sworn in and installed as the first Secretary of Samoan Affairs by Lee. Under Lee, there were a number of new efforts and programs that took place. He created a cooperative where local Samoans had a share in a new hotel, developed a fishing enterprise that employed local Samoans, increased tourism, by establishing a new airport, harbor facilities, roads and luxury hotels, and also cleaned up the island. The program was funded by $15 million that
Michael J. Kirwan, the chairman of the
Appropriations Committee for Public Works, had authorized. The main television station that was built was named the
Michael J. Kirwan Educational Television Center in his honor.
George P. Miller, chairman of the
House Committee on Science and Astronautics at the time, expressed some concerns with the program. He said that "they had a hard time getting teachers as it is very expensive to bring teachers from the mainland to Samoa, and having them out in the small communities living with the natives was pretty hard for them". He noted, however, that the program "became highly successful". Udall later said that Lee "turned out to be one of our very best appointments, in my view. He was a bit authoritarian, but I think he did a very good job at Samoa and was really our star performer". He was the last non-elected governor of the territory.
Federal Communications Commission After his term ended in 1967, Lee became the assistant administrator of the US foreign aid program of the
United States Department of State. Just over a year later, President Johnson appointed Lee to a seven-year term as a commissioner on the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which began on October 28, 1968. He served as the commission's education commissioner and was also a member of the Telephone and Telegraph Committee. His main focus was exploiting the full potential of telecommunications to improve the educational system in the United States. He has been characterized as a "quiet member" of the FCC who was "rarely flamboyant or controversial". During his time on the commission, he frequently joined
Nicholas Johnson in voting against station purchases in order to avoid media concentration. Alongside Johnson, he was considered on the "liberal wing" of the FCC by
The New York Times. He retired 18 months before his term expired on December 31, 1973, from "a desire to retire from career service to try something new." His resignation followed a week after Johnson's.
Retirement Lee became a visiting professor at
San Diego State University following his retirement from the FCC. In 1975, he became founding chairman of the Public Service Satellite Consortium. In his retirement, he helped to establish educational television in
South America. On May 28, 1977, Lee was re-appointed as Governor of American Samoa on an interim basis until the first elected governor,
Peter Tali Coleman, assumed office in January 1978. == Personal life ==