Former US Senator Hatfield Dies at 89

Posted August 8th, 2011 at 1:05 am (UTC-5)
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Mark Hatfield, a former five-term U.S. senator and outspoken war critic, has died at a home in the northwestern city of Portland.

He died Sunday at the age of 89. No cause of death was given.

Hatfield served 30 years in the Senate beginning in 1967, where he worked to end U.S. military involvement in Vietnam and later voted against the Persian Gulf war – a vote in opposition to all but one of his fellow Republican Party senators.

He also pushed for a ban on U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the 1980s.

Hatfield took part in the U.S. invasion of Iwo Jima while serving in the Navy, and visited the Japanese city of Hiroshima after it was hit by an American atomic bomb.

His Senate career was marred by two ethics scandals involving financial ties between his wife and a Greek financier, and failing to report thousands of dollars worth of gifts.

Before being elected to the Senate, Hatfield served two terms as governor of the state of Oregon.