This collection includes interviews with friends, family, and colleagues of Senator Mike Mansfield, detailing his life, extensive political career, and relationship with his wife, Maureen Hayes Mansfield. The interviews were conducted between 1998 and 2002 by Don Oberdorfer. The interviewees discuss Mansfield’s early childhood, his entry into politics, his relationship with each of the U.S. presidents under whom he served, and his focus on the Vietnam War. They also talk about his time as ambassador to Japan. The original interviews are held as Oral History collection OH 460 at Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula.
This collection includes 4 interviews.
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Albert Seligmann Interview, circa 2000
Albert Seligmann
Albert Seligmann recalls a funny incident when Ambassador to Japan Mike Mansfield met a bus of people from Montana who were visiting Japan. Seligmann tells of Mansfield greeting the visitors personally rather than waiting inside the ambassador’s residence. Seligmann discusses Mansfield’s insistence on meeting with ... Read More
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Francis “Frank” Valeo Interview, September 10, 1998
Francis Valeo
Francis “Frank” Valeo describes his time working as Senator Mike Mansfield’s secretary. Valeo recalls Mansfield’s diplomatic approach to China that was shaped from a number of trips to China from the Roosevelt Administration to the Ford Administration. Valeo also talks of Mansfield’s work in Congress ... Read More
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George Christian Interview, January 1, 1999
George Christian
George Christian recalls his interactions with Senator Mike Mansfield and describes the working relationship between President Lyndon Johnson and Mansfield when Mansfield was Majority Leader. Christian talks about Johnson’s concerns that Mansfield didn’t understand his reasons for continuing the Vietnam War. Christian also discusses Mansfield’s ... Read More
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George McGovern Interview, February 1, 2002
George McGovern
George McGovern describes his working relationship Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield from the mid-to-late 1960s and early 1970s. McGovern relates the challenge of congressional opposition to the Vietnam War. Democrat senators, including Mansfield, struggled to find effective means to legislate an end to the war. ... Read More