Mansfield, Mike (1903-2001)

US educator, politician, and diplomat. He dropped out of school at age 14 and served with the US military 1917-22. He earned a BA and an MA from Montana State University, where he then taught history and political science (1934-43). A Democrat representing Montana, he served in the US House of Representatives (1943-53) and then in the US Senate (1953-77), where, as majority leader (1961-77), he became an influential critic of the US role in the Vietnam War. President Jimmy Carter appointed him ambassador to Japan in 1977. Mansfield was born in New York City but raised in Montana.