[2] His father struggled to support the family, having to work several different jobs, ranging from a construction worker, hotel porter, and maintenance man.

[9] He served in the Western Recruiting Division at San Francisco until January 1921, when he was transferred to the Marine Barracks at Puget Sound, Washington.

The following month, he was detached to the Guard Company, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Mare Island, California.

[citation needed] Following his return to Montana in 1922, Mansfield worked as a "mucker" and shoveled ore and other waste in the copper mines of Butte for eight years.

With her financial support, Mansfield studied at the University of Montana in Missoula, where he took both high school and college courses.

[2] He earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Montana in 1934 with the thesis "American Diplomatic Relations with Korea, 1866–1910."

[9] In 1940, Mansfield ran for the Democratic nomination for the House of Representatives in Montana's 1st congressional district but was defeated by Jerry J. O'Connell, a former holder of the seat, in the primary.

[10] A new-comer to the House, who is reportedly internationalist-minded, having been professor of history and political science at Montana State University for ten years.

[2] He went to China on a special mission for US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 and served as a delegate to the ninth Inter-American Conference in Colombia in 1948.

During his House tenure, he also expressed his support for price controls, a higher minimum wage, the Marshall Plan, and aid to Turkey and Greece.

On December 28, 1960, he opined that US aid to Laos had produced nothing but "chaos, discontent, armies on the loose, and a large mission of hundreds of officials in Vientiane.

He reported to John F. Kennedy on December 2, 1962, that US money given to Diem's government was being squandered and that the US should avoid further involvement in Vietnam.

[12] On September 25, 1963, Mansfield introduced Kennedy during a joint appearance with him at the Yellowstone County Fairgrounds, Kennedy expressing his appreciation afterward and adding, "I know that those of you who live in Montana know something of his character and his high standard of public service, but I am not sure that you are completely aware of what a significant role he has played in the last 3 years in passing through the United States Senate measure after measure which strengthens this country at home and abroad.

"[14] During the Johnson administration, Mansfield, convinced that it was a blunder based on just aims, became a skeptic of US involvement in the Vietnam War.

In February 1965, he lobbied against escalating aerial bombardment of North Vietnam in the aftermath of Pleiku, arguing in a letter to the president that Operation Rolling Thunder would lead to a need for "vastly strengthened... American forces.

Nixon began a steady withdrawal and replacement of US troops shortly after he took office in January 1969, a policy supported by Mansfield.

Mansfield retired from the Senate in 1976 and was appointed ambassador to Japan in April 1977 by Jimmy Carter,[32] a role that he retained during the Reagan administration until 1988.

[38] On January 19, 1989, Mansfield and Secretary of State George P. Shultz were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.

"[39] In 1990, he was given both the United States Military Academy, Sylvanus Thayer Award and Japan's Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers, Grand Cordon.

[41] Through his last years, Mansfield lived in Washington, D.C., where he remained active; he performed speaking engagements well into his nineties, and worked from his office at Goldman Sachs until the week before he died.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.