Mike Mansfield Awards

The "Mike Mansfield Awards" were established in December 1985, by the Executive Committee of The Japan-America Society of Georgia in honor of former Ambassador Mansfield's outstanding and steadfast efforts in fostering good will between Japan and the United States. The awards are presented to outstanding Americans and Japanese who have continuously contributed their efforts toward promoting better understanding of cultural and economic issues between the peoples of the United States and Japan. Recipients of the awards are honored at The Japan-America Society of Georgia's annual dinner each year.

Mike Mansfield was born on March 16, 1903 in Great Falls, Montana. He left home at the age of 14, without completing the eighth grade, to join the U.S. Navy for the duration of World War I. After the war he served for a year in the U.S. army and two years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

In 1922 he returned to Montana to work in the mines until 1930. He was admitted to Montana School of Mines by examination, and later to Montana State University (now the University of Montana), where he received his B.A. and M.A. degrees. From 1933 to 1943, he was Professor of Latin American and Far Eastern History at Montana State, where he remains Professor of History on permanent tenure.

Mike Mansfield was first elected to the United States Congress in 1942 as a Representative from the State of Montana. He was elected to the United States Senate from Montana in 1952, and re-elected in 1958, 1964 and 1970. He was elected as Senate Majority Leader in 1961 and served in this capacity until his retirement from the Senate in 1977 -- longer than any other Majority Leader in the history of the U.S. Senate.

Throughout his career, Mr. Mansfield accepted a number of foreign policy assignments to the U.N. - West Berlin, Southeast Asia, and the Peoples Republic of China -- at the requests of four presidents. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed him Ambassador to Japan (the twenty-second American Ambassador to Japan) and President Ronald Reagan subsequently renewed the appointment. At his retirement from that post in 1988, he had served longer than any previous American Ambassador to Japan.

Among his many awards, Mr. Mansfield received the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award, the nation's highest non-military honor, by President Reagan and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by Japanese Prime Minister Takeshita.

マイク・マンスフィールド賞は、日本と米国の交流関係に並ならぬ努力をされたマンスフィールド大使の業績を讃えて、１９８５年にジョージア日米協会の役員会によって設立された賞です。受賞者は、毎年日米協会の年次晩餐会にて授与されます。マイク・マンスフィールド氏は、１９０３年３月１６日にモンタナ州グレートフォールズで生まれました。中学を卒業せずに１４歳で家を出た後第一次世界大戦中に合衆国海軍に入隊し、戦争後もう１年海軍に留まった後２年間海兵隊に従事しました。

１９２２年にモンタナに戻ったあと１９３０年まで鉱山で働き、試験を受けてモンタナ鉱山学校に入学した後モンタナ州立大学（現モンタナ大学）に入り、学士と修士の学位を取りました。１９３３年から４３年まで同大学で南米と極東の歴史の教授をし、現在まで歴史学の教授の地位にあります。

マイク・マンスフィールド氏は、１９４２年にモンタナ州から合衆国下院議員に選出され、１９５２年には上院議員に、５８年、６４年、７０年と同職に再選されました。１９６１年に多数党派の党首に選出され、１９７７年に退職する時まで合衆国で最多年君臨した多数党派の党首として活躍しました。

在職中マンスフィールド氏は、４代に渡る大統領からの要請で国連の外交関係に従事し、ウェスト・ベルリン、東南アジア、中華人民共和国との交渉に従事しました。１９７７年ジミー・カーター大統領が駐日大使を任命し（２２番目の駐日大使）ロナルド・レーガン大統領からも再任命されました。１９８８年の退職時には、歴代の大使の中で最多年の駐日大使でありました。

マンスフィールド氏は、数多くの賞を受賞し、その中でも栄誉あるものとしては軍人以外に与えられる賞としては国家最高である大統領名誉賞をレーガン大統領から授与し、日本の首相、竹下総理大臣からは勲一等旭日大綬章を授けられました。