Mansfield, Mike (1903-2001), a Montana Democrat, served as majority leader of the United States Senate from 1961 to 1977, longer than any other person. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 10 years before he was elected to the Senate in 1952. Mansfield also carried out foreign assignments for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Michael Joseph Mansfield was born in New York City on March 16, 1903. He was raised in Montana. In early 1918, at the age of 14, he dropped out of eighth grade and joined the U.S. Navy. He served as a seaman during World War I (1914-1918). In 1919 and 1920, he was a private in the U.S. Army. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1920 to 1922. Mansfield worked as a miner and mining engineer from 1922 to 1930. Although he never went to high school, he graduated from the State University of Montana (later Montana State University and now the University of Montana) in 1933. He earned a master’s degree there in 1934. Mansfield taught Latin American and Far Eastern history at the university until he entered Congress in 1943.
As a U.S. representative, Mansfield became known for his knowledge of foreign affairs. He won election to the U.S. Senate in 1952. In the Senate, he became the chamber’s leading expert on Southeast Asia. He was elected majority leader in 1961, taking over from Lyndon Johnson, who had been elected vice president. Mansfield won praise for his nonconfrontational style, in contrast to the aggressive Johnson. His leadership helped smooth the passage of major civil rights and antipoverty legislation during the 1960’s. Mansfield retired from the Senate in 1977, after serving four terms. From 1977 to 1988, he served as U.S. ambassador to Japan under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. He died on Oct. 5, 2001.
