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Senate Years of Service: 1980-1995 Party: Democrat
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090827071547im_/http://bioguide.congress.gov/bioguide/photo/M/M000811.jpg) |
MITCHELL, George John, a Senator from Maine; born in Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine,
August 20, 1933; attended the public schools; graduated, Bowdoin College,
Brunswick, Maine, 1954; graduated, Georgetown University Law Center,
Washington, D.C., 1960; served in the United States Army Counter Intelligence
Corps, Berlin, Germany, 1954-1956; admitted to the District of Columbia and
Maine bars in 1960 and commenced practice in Portland, Maine, 1965; trial
attorney, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.,
1960-1962; executive assistant to Senator Edmund S. Muskie 1962-1965; practiced
law, Portland, 1965-1977; assistant county attorney for Cumberland County,
Maine, 1971; unsuccessful candidate for governor of Maine in 1974; United
States Attorney for Maine 1977-1979; United States District Judge for Maine
1979-1980; appointed on May 17, 1980, as a Democrat to the United States Senate
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edmund S. Muskie for the term
ending January 3, 1983; sworn in May 19, 1980; reelected in 1982 and again in
1988 and served from May 17, 1980 to January 3, 1995; not a candidate for
reelection in 1994; chairman, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
(Ninety-ninth Congress); co-chairman, Democratic Policy Committee, Democratic
Conference (One Hundredth through One Hundred Third Congresses); majority
leader (1989-1995); Special Advisor to the President and the Secretary of State
for Economic Initiatives in Ireland (1995-2000); chairman, Sharm el-Sheikh
International Fact-Finding Committee to examine crisis in Middle East
(2000-2001); engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C. (1995-);
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 17, 1999; appointed by
President Barack Obama to serve as Special Envoy for Middle East Peace
(2009-).
BibliographyMitchell, George J.
Making Peace. New York: Knopf, 1999; Mitchell, George J.
Not for America Alone: The Triumph of Democracy and the Fall of
Communism. New York : Kodansha International, 1997; Mitchell, George
J., with William S. Cohen.
Men of Zeal: A Candid Inside Story of the Iran-Contra
Hearings. New York: Viking, 1988.
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