Kessai Note

Who is Kessai Note?

Kessai Hesa Note is a former President of the Marshall Islands, having served from 2000 to 2008.

Having served as Speaker of Parliament since 1988, he was elected President in 2000, and was the first commoner to be elected to the Presidency. He is a member of the United Democratic Party, and was reelected by parliament in January 2004, receiving 20 votes, while Justin deBrum received 9. On January 7, 2008, following the November 2007 general election, he was defeated in his bid for re-election in a vote of Parliament, receiving 15 votes against 18 for Litokwa Tomeing.

Note is of Japanese-Marshallese descent, having inherited his Japanese heritage from his paternal grandfather. Note's grandfather was a native of Niigata Prefecture, and settled in the Marshall Islands during the Japanese colonial era and married a Marshallese wife.