Frank Elliott Barnett (July 20, 1933 โ July 15, 2016) was the governor of American Samoa from October 1, 1976, to May 27, 1977.[2][3] Before becoming governor, he was a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and a Tennessee attorney.[4] He served as the first lieutenant governor of American Samoa for two years prior to his governorship.[4] While Governor, a number of Samoans signed a petition accusing him of abusing local officials; others signed a counter-petition supporting him, and the charges were eventually dropped. This arose from his firing of Mere Betham, a native who had been serving as Samoan Director of Education, an action he defended as necessary to improve education on the island, but others decried as racist; Barnett reinstated Betham one week after dismissing her.[5]