[10] From his paternal grandmother Keawe, he was descended from Kaiʻākea, his great-grandfather and an aliʻi (high chief) of Molokaʻi, who served as a political counselor, orator and many other different positions during the reign of the first Hawaiian king Kamehameha I.

Joseph Nāwahī and White became the leaders of the factions of the Liberals loyal to the queen against the more radical members such as John E. Bush and Robert William Wilcox, who were advocating for drastic changes such as increased power for the people and a republican form of government.

[42][note 3] In the February 1892 election, White ran on the National Liberal ticket and defeated Reform candidate John W. Kalua for the seat of Lahaina in the House of Representatives.

[44] This session was characterized by a series of resolutions of no confidence, resulting in the ousting of a number of Queen Liliʻuokalani's appointed cabinet ministers, and debates over the passage of the controversial lottery and opium bills.

[46] Along with his political ally Nāwahī, White was decorated with the honor of Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalākaua at a ceremony in the Blue Room of ʻIolani Palace on the morning of January 14, for his work and patriotism during the legislative session.

On the afternoon of January 14, after the knighting ceremony of White and Nāwahī and the prorogation of the legislature, members of Hui Kālaiʻāina and a delegation of native leaders marched to ʻIolani Palace with a sealed package containing the constitution.

[53] Opponents of the monarchy, especially the conservatives in the Reform Party, later claimed he gave an inflammatory and violent speech inciting the crowd to storm the palace and "go in and kill and bury" either the queen or her cabinet ministers.

[51][54] On January 16, The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, an English newspaper in Honolulu, sympathetic to the Reform Party, reported: Rep. White then proceeded to the steps of the Palace and began an address.

Anti-monarchists, annexationists, and leading Reformist politicians including Lorrin A. Thurston formed the Committee of Safety in protest of the "revolutionary" action of the queen and conspired to depose her.

[32][56] In this mass meeting, White also gave a speech denying the violent charges printed in the press against him, claiming that "the other fellows, meaning the Reformers, are crying out before they are hurt" (another paraphrasing published in The Daily Bulletin).

The falsehood of such statement, well known to us who were witnesses at the scene, will shortly be proven in the courts of justice, as Mr. White has retained counsel for the purpose of bringing a damage suit for malicious libel[note 5] against the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, the principal organ of the reform party.

[57]These actions and the radicalized political climate eventually led to the overthrow of the monarchy, on January 17, 1893, by the Committee of Safety, with the covert support of United States Minister John L. Stevens and the landing of American forces from the USS Boston.

During this period, the de facto government, which was composed largely of residents of American and European ancestry, sought to annex the islands to the United States against the wishes of the Native Hawaiians who wanted to remain an independent nation ruled by the monarchy.

[9] On July 8 a confrontation took place between the leaders of the congregation, in physical control of the church, and supporters of Pali, which included Lahaina Circuit Judge Daniel Kahāʻulelio.

A delegation (not including White) was elected by its members to represent the case of the monarchy and the Hawaiian people to the United States Commissioner James Henderson Blount sent by President Grover Cleveland to investigate the overthrow.

[67] During this politically uncertain time, White traveled to Honolulu at the end of 1893 on the steamer W. G. Hall upon hearing rumors of the monarchy's restoration and returned to Lahaina in January when he discovered the reports were false.

[69] In April 1894 White and John Richardson gave a speech at Lahaina opposing the new regime and asking the people not to participate in the election of delegates to the constitutional convention in Honolulu.

Members of Hui Aloha ʻĀina gave speeches and held meetings across much of the island, and it was reported that foreigners and natives alike in Maui (with the exception of the residents of Hana) were strongly against the attempts to establish a republic.

[71] After Nāwahī's death, White and other Hui Aloha ʻĀina delegates from the different island branches congregated in Honolulu for the election of a new leadership council on November 28, 1896, coinciding with Lā Kūʻokoʻa (Hawaiian Independence Day).

[28] In September 1898 White took an oath of allegiance to the United States and the Republic of Hawaii in order to renew his license to practice law in the inferior courts of the Hawaiian Islands.

Despite divided opinions among the Hawaiian leaders, they sent a memorial requesting the restoration of the monarchy and "the old order" to the board of commissioners established to finalize the laws and annexation of the islands to the United States.

The party consisted of Native Hawaiians who had been leaders during the monarchy and other former royalists and loyalists such as Robert William Wilcox, who was elected the first congressional delegate from Hawaii under the Home Rule ticket.

[87][88][89] Historian Ronald William, Jr., noted: Hawaiʻi's first territorial legislature has been disparaged in modern published sources with its native leadership characterized as incompetent, ineffective, and shallow.

In contrast, the primary-source record of that body reveals a competent, prepared, and engaged native leadership addressing foundational concerns of their constituents through the drafting and support of numerous legislative bills.

The discrepancy between the narratives speaks volumes about the larger elision of Hawaiian voice and action in published histories of Hawaiʻi....[88] Native leaders of the 1901 legislature were neither incompetent nor intimidated.

Baldwin assembled men from his former police force and retook the sheriff's office, but White refused to relinquish his position, insisting that he wanted "further advice from the Attorney General as to what he should do".

On January 16, 1904, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled the second county bill as unconstitutional because it ran counter to the Organic Act, effectively voiding the previous local elections.

Opting to run for the lesser position Deputy Sheriff of Lahaina, White lost the county election of June 1905, to the Republican Charles R. Lindsay, Jr. by a margin of 112 to 212.

[104][105] The rest of White's political career was marked by a successive period of electoral defeats caused by his continued adherence to the declining Home Rule Party.

They could never be induced to compromise principles, nor did they for one moment falter or hesitate in advocating boldly a new constitution which should accord equal rights to the Hawaiians, as well as protect the interests of the foreigners.