K. Ross Toole Archives
The Mike Mansfield Papers: Series Notes
Series XVIII: Senate: Intergovernmental Correspondence, 1953-1977 (27 linear ft.)
The material collected here primarily relates to the internal affairs of the Senate. The volume of correspondence grows markedly after Mansfield's selection as Majority Leader. Most of the documents concern fairly mundane matters like assigned parking spaces and requisitioning typewriters for the office. The series begins with several boxes of miscellaneous personal files arranged chronologically. These are followed by other Senate affairs boxes and boxes relating to Majority Leadership. Beginning at Box 40, the remainder of the series is composed of folders for specific senators, listed alphabetically. There are newspaper clippings, government reports, copies of the Congressional Record, voting record tallies, and telegrams, but the majority of the folders contain letters.
Mansfield's arrival in the Senate is marked by routine administrative documents including letters from the Sergeant at Arms and a copy of Senate Rules. There are copies of Mansfield's letters regarding committee appointments and his radio broadcasts. Later there are letters regarding Senate employees, reservations in the Senate dining room, security clearance notices, Mansfield's staff, scheduling of hearings and meetings, and unofficial advocacy of pending legislation. Odds and ends included here are directories of the Congressional Secretaries Club, maps of the Senate Office Building, reports on restoration of the Capitol, press releases from President Johnson, and plans for plaques in John F. Kennedy's old Senate office.
The files on Majority Leadership also proceed chronologically but contain a more repetitive collection of documents. The folders are divided by Congressional session and focus on record-keeping. The folders contain copies of voting records from the session and attendance lists for each Senator. There are letters to all Senators at the end of most sessions, letters informing Senators of imminent key votes, thank-you letters to the Assistant Senate Whip, Democratic Policy Committee reports, letters regarding legislative oversight, and information regarding Mansfield's responsibilities as Senate Whip. The files for individual Senators vary greatly; those for important Democratic Senators are the most substantial. For example, there is extensive material for Hubert Humphrey and very little Harrison Williams, Jr. Some folders contain policy information like military strategy reports and specific legislation. Others hold requests for autographed pictures for colleague's staffs and press releases. The letters between Senators are very interesting and provide a glimpse of the personal relations among Congressional members. There are a number of very complimentary letters to Mansfield from his Senate colleagues and from constituents regarding their general happiness with his performance in Washington.
The overall organization of the series is fairly clear. Most of the material here does not overlap with other series, though references to particular legislation may appear across several series. The primary value of these documents is to provide a good background for understanding the behind-the-scenes machinations of Senate business.
See a sample document from this series: A letter from Senator John F. Kennedy, 27 November 1956, seeking Mansfield's support of a position for Kennedy on the Foreign Relations or Appropriations Committee.
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Last Updated: 7 July 2002.