U.S. Ambassador To Japan
Mansfield retired from the Senate in 1976, and was appointed Ambassador to Japan in April 1977 by Jimmy Carter, a role he retained during the Reagan administration until 1988. While serving in Japan, Mansfield and his wife were highly respected; he is still a household name there to this day. Mansfield is particularly renowned for describing the United States-Japan relationship as the 'most important bilateral relationship in the world, bar none'. Mansfield's successor in Japan Michael Armacost noted in his memoirs that, for Mansfield, the phrase was a 'mantra.' While in office, Mansfield also fostered relations between his home state of Montana and Japan. The sister city of Helena, capital of the state, is Kumamoto city, on the island of Kyushu.
After his retirement as ambassador, Mansfield worked as an advisor to Goldman Sachs on East Asian affairs.
Read more about this topic: Mike Mansfield
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