To honor Mike Mansfield’s centennial on March 16, 2003,
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation sponsored three celebrations
in Missoula, Montana, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo, Japan. These
special events highlighted Mike Mansfield’s many contributions
to the nation, the U.S. Senate, and U.S.-Asia relations, as well
as to his home state of Montana. As the organization that seeks
to carry on Mike Mansfield’s legacy in advancing understanding
and cooperation in U.S.-Asia relations, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield
Foundation was pleased to co-sponsor these events with several
individuals, foundations and corporations in the United States
and Japan.
Montana Celebration
March 16-19, 2003
In honor of Senator Mike Mansfield’s 100th birthday, The
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at The University of Montana
hosted a three-day event paying tribute to the life and legacy
of Senator Mansfield and his wife Maureen Hayes Mansfield.
The Mansfield Centennial Celebration began on Senator Mansfield’s
actual birthday (March 16th) when a bronze statue of Mrs. Maureen
Mansfield was unveiled in the Mansfield Library Archives. The statue
was commissioned by Sophie Engelhard Craighead, former member of
the board of The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. This event
was followed over the next two days by a series of panel discussions
and a round table reminiscence featuring guest speakers, including
Former Ambassador to Japan and 49th Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives, Thomas F. Foley, Judy Martz (Governor of the state
of Montana), L. Gordon Flake (Executive Director of the Maureen
and Mike Mansfield Foundation), Dorothy Bradley (Former Member,
Montana State Legislature), Don Oberdorfer (Mansfield Biographer
and Journalist for the Washington Post), Ray Dockstader (Former
Legislative Assistant to Senator Mansfield) and George McGovern
(Former U.S. Ambassador and U.S. Senator).
Other special guests included Ms. Anne Mansfield (Mike and Maureen
Mansfield’s daughter), Pat Williams (Former Montana Congressman),
and George Dennison (President of The University of Montana and
member of The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation Board of Directors).
All events were free and open to the public, and more than 300
people attended over the three-day celebration. The Montana Centennial
was made possible with support from The Maureen and Mike Mansfield
Foundation.
Washington, D.C., Celebration
April 2, 2003
More than 180 Congressional leaders, diplomats, journalists and
public policy leaders paid tribute to Mike Mansfield at a black-tie
dinner in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress.
The honorary dinner committee included present and former Senate
Majority leaders Robert C. Byrd, George J. Mitchell, Thomas A.
Daschle, Howard H. Baker, Jr., Robert Dole, Trent Lott, and William
Frist, as well as the following diplomatic, corporate and political
leaders: Michael H. Armacost, Nancy Kassebaum Baker, Max Baucus,
James H. Billington, Conrad Burns, Warren M. Christopher, Charles
F. Dolan, Thomas S. Foley, Maurice R. Greenberg, Carla A. Hills,
Richard C. Holbrooke, Henry A. Kissinger, Walter F. Mondale, Yoichi
Morishita, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Marc Racicot,
David Rockefeller, George P. Shultz, Shoichiro Toyoda and Paul
A. Volcker.
Syndicated Columnist Mark Shields served as the Master of Ceremonies,
with speakers Charles F. Ferris, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard
H. Baker, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
The dinner was underwritten by Michael and Charlotte Delaney and
the Engelhard Foundation, with support from The Maureen and Mansfield
Foundation.
The Tokyo events included a public forum and discussion on U.S.-Japan
relations as well as a private reception hosted by Ambassador Howard
H. Baker attended by visiting Majority Leader Bill Frist and a
delegation of U.S. Senators.
More than 200 government and political leaders, public policy
representatives, journalists and the public attended the public
forum, entitled “Living the Legacy of Mike Mansfield: Reexamining ‘the
Most Important Bilateral Relationship in the World.’” Mansfield
Foundation Board members Gen. John T. Chain, Jr. (ret.) U.S. Air
Force, and Desaix Anderson served as Masters of Ceremonies. The
Hon. Shinzo Abe, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, and The Hon. Howard
H. Baker, Jr., United States Ambassador to Japan, gave keynote
speeches, which were followed by discussion by Dr. Gerald L. Curtis,
Burgess Professor of Political Science of Columbia University,
and Shinichi Kitaoka, Professor, Faculty of Law of the University
of Tokyo.
The forum was sponsored by The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation,
with support from the United States-Japan Foundation, Matsushita
Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., and Toyota Motor Corporation.
