United States History - 20th Century - 1945 to 2000, U.S. - Political Biography, U.S. Politics - History, Legislative Branch

Mike Mansfield, majority leader

Name: Mike Mansfield, majority leader
Author: Francis R. Valeo
ISBN: 9780765604507

by Francis R. Valeo

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Overview

This book is about Mike Mansfield and the U.S. Senate during the period that he served as majority leader. For eight consecutive two-year terms, Mansfield's leadership went uncontested. Extending from 1961 through 1976, it began when John F. Kennedy succeeded Dwight D. Eisenhower, continued through the Johnson and Nixon administrations, and ended only with Mansfield's retirement during the presidency of Gerald Ford. Valeo shows how Mansfield came to be deeply immersed in these events and how he led the "greatest deliberative body in the world" in coping with their consequences. He also shows how Mansfield's personality and style, so different from his predecessor's, facilitated an outpouring of social legislation such as the nation had not seen since Roosevelt's New Deal. He also covers Mansfield's prescient leadership in attempting to restrain expansion of the U.S. role in Vietnam, and Mansfield's vanguard effort with the Nixon administration to extend formal relations to China. Frank Valeo was an eyewitness to and a participant in many of the events he describes. This firsthand account, told in the third person, is based entirely on his recollections and personal diaries and constitutes a unique and vital narrative of a crucial time in our nation's history as well as a personal record of the achievements of one of the most influential politicians of this century and his successful efforts to fashion a different kind of Senate.

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Editorials

Edward M. Kennedy

This book should be read by everyone who wants to know more about (the 1960s and 1970s) for America's leadership at home and abroad.
— The Washington Monthly

The Hill

The best account of one of the singular leaders of the Senate in this century.

Library Journal

The Washington Post's David Broder recently called 96-year-old Mike Mansfield "the greatest living American." Mansfield served as senate majority leader from 1961 through 1976--longer than any other--during John Kennedy's New Frontier, Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, and Richard Nixon's truncated presidency, an era of dynamic legislative activity unmatched since the New Deal of the 1930s. Valeo, secretary of the senate under Mansfield, does not provide the full-scale biography that Mansfield deserves but rather a focused investigation of the major issues of the majority leader's tenure--the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Great Society legislation, Mansfield's opposition to Johnson's Vietnam policies, and the rise and fall of Nixon. Mansfield's modesty, generous sharing of credit, and respect for the traditions of the Senate endeared him to both Democrats and Republicans. The saga of HR 7152 (which became the monumental Civil Rights Act of 1964) is more eloquently and thoroughly told in Robert Mann's The Walls of Jericho (LJ 5/15/96), but Valeo offers a skilled overview of Mansfield's leadership and senatorial triumphs. Recommended for academic and larger public library collections.--Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Valeo, secretary of the Senate under Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, writes about the Senate and Mansfield's role in national affairs from 1961-76. He argues that Mansfield was instrumental in shaping a different kind of Senate than that of the 1950s. Mansfield served for eight consecutive two-year terms, longer than any other majority leader of the Senate. His tenure spanned JFK's election through Vietnam, Watergate, and the Nixon resignation. Includes b&w historical photos from the 1950s through the 1970s. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)