Last November, in a baffled state of mind, I gazed at a political map of Montana and realized the reason for one of the sparse blue sections. Hoping for some inspiration, some hope, I searched the bookcase for a biography of the most respected politician, possibly the most respected man, in Montana history.

Montana needs nothing to confirm its rank as a great state of natural beauty, or as a place of prominence in western expansion and history. But Mike Mansfield, in the span of his long life, gave Montana a special reputation for strength of character and solid judgment. He exemplified the practical idea that although partisan divides exist, they should be dealt with honestly, and, at times, set aside for the good of the state and the country.

The blue space that I noticed on the map was Silverbow County, Butte. The people there are some of the best in our state. They have been through a lot and retain their unique sense of humor and place. I don’t know if their “miner’s farewell”, a saying that advised workers to exercise caution while swinging their hammers underground and placing dynamite charges, is still repeated today. I hope so. The miner’s saying was; ‘Tap ‘er Light.’ Mike Mansfield was one of them. He lived in Butte and worked the mines as a young man. The people of Butte have never forgotten.

The symbol of manhood in Montana right now is a fictional character in a television show, or so I am told. I do not watch. Once we had a real man, a giant. Read his biography. The author of that biography knew Mike Mansfield personally. He said that the last time they met before Mike’s death, he said goodbye as he always did: ‘Tap ‘er Light.’ Typical of Mike, he took those Montana roots with him to Washington and around the world.

Mike Mansfield was born in, of all places, New York City, in 1903. His parents were Irish immigrants. When his father suffered a construction accident and his mother died soon after, Mike and his two younger sisters were sent to Great Falls, Montana, to live with relatives. The next years were tough—a series of odd jobs and intermittent schooling. After Mike ran away twice, he was sent to the state home for wayward and orphaned children in Twin Bridges. The next time he ran away, he must have put more thought into his escape; he made it. After a series of adventures and jobs around the country, Mike reunited with his father in New York. Then he falsified his age and enlisted in the Navy during the First World War. He was 15.

For the next five years, Mansfield alternated service in the United States military with short intervals of unsuccessful job hunting. He served in the Navy, Army, and the Marine Corps and was honorably discharged from all three. During his service in the Marines, he was sent to the Philippines and China, which fascinated him and led to his eventual career path. In 1922 he returned to Montana after finishing his military service. He was not yet 21 years old.

As before, there were no jobs in Great Falls, where his aunt and sisters resided. Mike headed southwest to the largest city in five states. The copper mines ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Butte. He found a job as a miner and worked there for the next ten years.

Hard rock mining is an extremely difficult and dangerous job. From the beginning, Mike worked hard and attempted to better his prospects. The death of a good friend from lung disease at a young age inspired him to enroll in classes at the School of Mines in preparation for becoming a mining engineer. Engineers spent much less time in the mines than miners.

Mike Mansfield’s life took its greatest turn when he met Maureen Hayes, a Butte schoolteacher. She encouraged his education toward a university degree rather than mining. They married and moved to Missoula. Mike completed a degree in history, later a masters, joined the adjunct faculty, attended graduate studies at UCLA, and became a professor of Asian history at the University of Montana.

If he had pursued a career in academia in Missoula his life story would have been impressive enough, but with Maureen’s encouragement Mike decided to try politics. He had been active in the teacher’s union at the university and took that experience into the whole state. He ran for Congress in 1940 and was defeated in the primary. The seat was won by Jeanette Rankin, the legendary pacifist. By 1942 the world had changed—the country was at war. Mansfield’s military record and his Asian expertise helped him win his first election. Almost from his first day in Washington, he was heralded as the Far East expert in Congress. Mike served ten years in the House of Representatives. He was consulted by both FDR and Truman on Asia and sent on fact-finding missions to China. In Montana, he was respected and easily re-elected.

In reading Don Oberdorfer’s comprehensive biography of Mike Mansfield, I assumed that I would find a bygone era of politics that was somewhat fair and respectful. This was not the case. The political arena was as dirty and corrupt as it had always been, and remains to this day. The exception was Mansfield. He seemed to glide above the rest. His integrity was genuine; he was ambitious, but had no ego about his position or achievements. He was unique.

In 1952 Mike ran for the Senate. The country was in the middle of McCarthyism. Mike had been to China, so he was portrayed by his opposition as a communist. The campaign was nasty. Mike responded by campaigning the way he always did. He toured Montana: cities, towns and smaller towns. He praised citizens, and downplayed himself. He remembered people’s names. Just before the election, he gave a speech expressing incredulity at the tactics used against him, and called on Montanans to reject the barrage of falsehoods about him. The voters did that, and Mike began a Senate career that lasted 24 years. Later, the political operative who spearheaded the campaign against Mansfield admitted that he knew nothing about him and that he had been paid to lie.

Before the end of his first term, Senator Mansfield had been elevated to a leadership position in the Senate, based on his foreign policy expertise and his unwavering integrity. In 1960 a senatorial friend of his, John F Kennedy, was elected president. Former Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson was elected vice-president. Mansfield ascended to that leadership position. He held that post from 1961 until 1977. He worked closely with JFK on foreign affairs, serving as liaison between the executive and legislative branches. When Kennedy was assassinated, Jackie Kennedy chose Mansfield to deliver his eulogy.

The 1960s were turbulent years, no less in government than in the entire country. With the steady hand of Mike Mansfield much groundbreaking legislation was enacted—in particular, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. These laws were controversial. As Majority Leader, Mansfield was patient, methodical, and respectful of each point of view; he did not twist arms, but appealed to individual senators’ sense and conscience. He did not hold grudges. Mike was always trusted by his peers.

He made mistakes. With his study and trips to southeast Asia he became an expert on Vietnam. During the 1950s he encouraged our involvement there. But by the Kennedy presidency he was advising his friend to pull out. It will never be known if that would have happened. JFK had told Mansfield he would do so in his second term. President Johnson had a differing view. His escalation of the war came while Mansfield and others advised him to cease our commitment. Mansfield was the most vocal senator in his dissent, but he kept his criticism private while supporting LBJ in public. He continued in this manner during Nixon’s presidency.

Nixon is mostly remembered for Watergate and deceiving the public in Vietnam and Cambodia. But he was praised for opening relations with Red China. However, Mike Mansfield was invited to China before Nixon was. He had been advocating communication with China for many years. Even the Chinese trusted Mike. When the Chinese later invited Nixon, Mansfield postponed his visit so that the President went first. But Mike made diplomatic visits to China in 1972, then in 1974 and 1976, after Nixon had resigned.

Mike fulfilled his duties of foreign policy expert and Senate Majority Leader until 1977.

That year he resigned from the Senate after 24 years. President Jimmy Carter appointed him ambassador to Japan. Mike was 74 years old. Japan had gone from the devastation of defeat in WWII to developing the second largest economy in the world. The job that Mansfield did in overseeing our relationship with this huge trading partner was vital. In an extraordinary departure from partisanship, Ronald Reagan asked Mike Mansfield to continue in that role. Mike served in Tokyo for both of Reagan’s terms. He finally retired in 1989 at the age of 85.

The legacy of Mike Mansfield is not simply his complete self-effacing integrity and total honesty as a man and a politician. It is his ability to bring out the best in others by his fairness and trust. He had the knack of elevating the behavior of others. That is why, 25 years after his death, the people of Butte, who rightly considered Mike one of their own, continue to remember his legacy with their votes. Mike did not use the saying ‘Tap ‘er light’ as simply a farewell; he employed it as a tool in his political and personal work.

Because character and honesty no longer matter, they matter even more.