Senator Mark O. Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was a senior statesman who enjoyed a reputation for integrity, bipartisan advocacy, and social action.

In his half century of public service he served as Oregon state representative, state senator, secretary of state, governor, and five-term U.S. Senator.

He chaired the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, consistently built coalitions between unlikely allies, and often stood alone for what he felt was right.

His papers and book collection are stored in the Willamette University Archives and Special Collections, inside the Mark O. Hatfield Library.

Senator Hatfield merited his own chapter in Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation.

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Diane N. Solomon is a freelance writer and editor, as well as a practicing nurse-midwife.

She has written for Self, Country Homes, Country Gardens, The Oregonian, Moment, The Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, and numerous other publications.

She writes extensively for Oregon Health Sciences University.