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WASHINGTON (AP) - Mike Mansfield, the longest-serving majority leader in Senate history and ambassador to Japan for two presidents, died of congestive heart failure Friday. He was 98.
The Montana Democrat was Senate majority leader from 1961 until his retirement in 1976.
Mansfield, who quit school to fight in World War I and served in the Navy, Army and Marines, was a steadfast opponent of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Upon retirement, Mansfield said his greatest disappointment during his 34 years in Congress was his inability ``to stop or slow down the Vietnam War.''
After retiring from the Senate in 1977, Mansfield became ambassador to Japan at the request of President Carter. When the White House changed hands, President Reagan asked Mansfield to stay on.
Mansfield was born in New York City's Greenwich Village to Irish Catholic immigrants. His father, a hotel porter, sent the 3-year-old off to live with relatives in Montana after his mother died.
He left Montana at 14, lying about his age to join the Navy. His interest in Asian affairs was piqued when he served as a Marine private in China from 1920 to 1922, after which he returned to Montana and went to work in a copper mine.
After stepping down as ambassador in 1988, Mansfield went to work as a Far East consultant for the investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs and Co.