[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 114 (Friday, September 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9118-S9119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE PASSING OF MAUREEN MANSFIELD

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise to honor a great Montanan, a great 
American, who passed away just a few days ago, Maureen Hayes Mansfield.
  These are remarks about Maureen, but it is also a love story. Maureen 
was born Maureen Hayes in the State of Washington at the beginning of 
the last century, in 1905, and spent most of her youth in Butte, MT. 
Butte, at that time, was a live, bustling, raucous mining city, with 
big copper mines. Living in Butte, she met a grade school dropout, a 
mucker working in the Butte mines, a profound young man named Mike--
Mike Mansfield.
  Mike was not only a grade school dropout but he also was an extremely 
wonderful person. Maureen must have recognized the strength in Mike at 
the time. Mike, as many of us know, served in all three branches of the 
armed services--age 17, 18, and 19. He had to maybe tell a little story 
about his age so he could get into--I think it was the Navy at the 
time.
  Mike served, and Maureen noticed that. They became very close--they 
fell in love with each other, Mike living as a solitary boarder in a 
boarding house, Maureen living up in a nice spacious house with her 
large family in Butte. After they got to know each other even more, 
Maureen, who was a high school teacher in Butte, persuaded Mike to go 
back to school. She persuaded Mike to leave the mines, go back to 
school and get an education.
  A few years later, they moved to Missoula, MT. In Missoula, Maureen 
quit her job. She cashed in her life insurance policy to support Mike's 
education so Mike could go back and get a university degree.
  Mike gradually worked his way up and became a professor in history at 
the University of Montana. He got his master's degree at the University 
of Montana. And Maureen, in the year Mike got his master's in history, 
got hers in English, writing a thesis on Emily Bronte. Mike's thesis 
was on U.S.-Korea diplomatic relations.
  Maureen persuaded Mike to run for Congress in 1940. It was the 
Western District in Montana. Mike was unsuccessful. It, ironically, is 
the same district that Jeannette Rankin, a very strong woman, held for 
a couple of terms. It is a district I once represented, and Lee Metcalf 
and other Montanans of great note have held.
  Mike finally won in 1942. He came to Washington on a train --he did 
not take one of these jets; it was on a train, to Washington, DC--and 
set up his office. Maureen worked in his office without compensation.
  They worked together; they were such a wonderful team. Mike then, 
after 10 years in the House, served 10 years in the Senate beginning in 
1952. Years after his service in the House, he was elected majority 
leader of the Senate. He served 16 years, longer than any other 
American, as majority leader of the Senate. Then Mike, as we know, went 
off to serve as Ambassador to Japan under both President Carter and 
President Reagan.
  This is a story probably about Mike Mansfield, but Maureen's death is 
time for us to reflect upon Maureen herself and upon the love that Mike 
and Maureen had for each other. They were inseparable. They were always 
together, always giving each other support, help, and confidence as a 
team.
  I can remember when I met Mike. The majority leader's office at that 
time was a little more modest than it is today. Maureen was sitting in 
there, and they were talking a little bit. Right away I realized Mike 
and Maureen just did not have all the time

[[Page S9119]]

they would have liked to have had together because Mike was so busy as 
majority leader.
  I said: You two don't get much chance to be together. I am going to 
leave so you can have some time together.
  I did. I walked out. I could tell they liked it very much. Maureen's 
eyes twinkled and smiled. I say this because Maureen always smiled. She 
was always optimistic, always upbeat, always helping people, always a 
very kind person, self-effacing, a lady of few words but uncommon 
talent and knowledge and wisdom.
  She attended St. Mary's University, a women's college which was then 
attached to Notre Dame in Indiana. She got her master's degree in 
English in 4 years, which was quite a feat for women in those years. 
She read constantly. She was always taking home books from the Library 
of Congress.
  I believe if one looks throughout history, very often people who read 
a lot are wiser, have more confidence in themselves, and have a greater 
imprint upon other people in a positive way. I am thinking of people 
such as Harry Truman. He read a lot. Justice Blackmun read a lot, and 
Maureen was one of those who constantly read and was just a wonderful 
influence on Mike.
  Let me give a couple examples to demonstrate just how much Mike 
believed in Maureen.
  We all know that Mike never took credit for what he did. Maureen 
never took credit for all that she did. It was an era, a time when 
people did not take credit for what they did. They just did a good job. 
That was in the sixties, seventies, less so in this era.
  Whenever somebody wanted to credit Mike for his tremendous 
accomplishments, Mike would always insist: No, Maureen is first. 
Whatever I did, Mike Mansfield, whatever honors I had is because of 
Maureen.
  It is true. Often the people of the State of Montana would say: OK, 
Mike, we want to dedicate a building to you, the Mansfield Center.
  Mike would say: No, it has to be the Maureen and Mike Mansfield 
Center, and they would agree.
  The legislature in Montana wanted to create a statue honoring Mike 
Mansfield, one of the most famous Montanans in our State's history. 
``No way,'' Mike said, ``unless it is a statue of Maureen and myself.'' 
Otherwise he was very much opposed. The legislature agreed.
  I wish you could have seen the two of them together. They were always 
together. They celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary last March. 
They were married 68 years, solidly helping to reinforce each other. 
They were always together helping each other.
  I asked Mike once: Mike, you have lived such a rich life. When are 
you going to write your memoirs?
  Mike said: I am not going to.
  I asked why.
  He said: I was told so much in confidence, it would not be proper for 
me to write memoirs. Those are confidential statements.
  And that is Maureen. The two of them were just like that. I am sure 
Maureen's influence on Mike helped make Mike the great, wonderful 
person he is, and it was mutually reinforcing. I also have a view that 
teachers tend to be more dedicated than most other professions. After 
all, teachers are servants in a sense. If one looks at achievers, very 
often one of their parents was a teacher or there was a teacher 
somewhere in the family.
  Maureen was a teacher. She was a teacher in the public school system. 
Mike was a teacher at the University of Montana. The best lessons they 
taught us were by example: Honest as the day is long; their word is 
their bond; upbeat, positive, contributing, giving, thinking, searching 
for a better way for more people.
  I believe the most noble human endeavor is service--service to 
community, to church, to family, to friends, to State, whatever makes 
the most sense for an individual. Maureen Mansfield served her husband, 
her State, and her country more than any other person I have had the 
privilege to know or to meet and with such grace, such style, and such 
inspiration.
  I stand here today, Mr. President, in great honor of Maureen 
Mansfield, in awe of the wonderful love affair between Mike and 
Maureen. As many of Maureen's Indian friends would say: This is not 
goodbye; we will see you later.
  I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Shelby). The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I again thank the distinguished majority 
leader for arranging for me to have this time.

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