George Yokoyama was a junior at Hilo High School in 1945 when he punched the principal and then walked out.

A series of warnings about being on his best behavior because he was Japanese-American and the country was fighting Japan was taken the wrong way by Yokoyama, who was already headed toward juvenile delinquency.

"Two weeks later, I got a letter from the president of the United States; it said ‘Welcome to the Army!’

"I learned then that the principal was on the draft board. When he had problem students, he sent them into the Army," Yokoyama writes in a just-published autobiography.

It was one of the very few political miscalculations Yokoyama would make.

Now 89, Yokoyama is still going to work at the Hilo office of the Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council, where for many years he served as executive director.

His book, "Memoir of a War on Poverty in Paradise" (available on Amazon), gives readers the flavor of old-time Hilo and Hawaii’s special brand of politics while also serving as an excellent guide to making social service agencies work.

"George has been fighting the war on poverty relentlessly for five decades. He is a believer in the ‘maximum feasible participation of the poor’ in the programs that affect their lives," said Charles Freedman, who worked as Yokoyama’s assistant for seven years in Hilo.

"His impact on the Big Island has been extraordinary. Thousands of potentially disenfranchised young people have been turned around by his youth programs," said Freeman, adding that Yokoyama started a successful bus program for the elderly.

In his book, Yokoyama stressed that his plan is always for his clients "to learn to accept employment as a new way of life — to go from living on handouts to becoming contributing citizens with a purpose in life.

"Our goal is a complete turnaround from a welfare way of life to a working one."

To that end, Yokoyama, after serving in the Army until 1955, went to Tokyo’s Sophia University, despite not having a high school degree, and then started selling construction equipment in Japan.

When he returned to Hawaii after 23 years away, Yokoyama was almost broke — but with the help of Hilo friends he was able to find work and applied for a job with the newly formed private economic opportunity program.

He was hired and was a natural fit. Soon he was executive director and learned that programs like his exist with government and politics.

Because many of his programs depended on grassroots organizing, going door to door, holding community meetings and rallying different groups to one cause, Yokoyama became something of a political force for the poor throughout the state.

"George was an extraordinary community leader — totally dedicated to helping the poor and working class. He was also a political force on the Big Island. He inspired people, and many followed him," said former Gov. Ben Cayetano, whose own successful campaigns for governor were helped by Yokoyama.

"And he was tough, street smart and persuasive. Getting his support on the Big Island was high priority for many politicians," said Cayetano.

Yokoyama had a way with picking winning candidates and tripped up only when he supported former U.S. Rep. Ed Case is his run for governor in 2002, and then former Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s re-election in 2014.

If Yokoyama sees politics as a game, he has been a master player, but he acknowledged that "politics is a means to an end."

For Yokoyama, that end has been social justice and advancement for the poor. And there are thousands on the Big Island studying, learning and working because of his ability to play politics.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.