Mitchell, George John (1933-…), was a United States senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995. Mitchell, a Democrat, was Senate majority leader from 1989 until he retired in 1995. He had been appointed to the Senate in 1980 to finish the unexpired term of Edmund S. Muskie. Muskie resigned his seat to become secretary of state under President Jimmy Carter. Mitchell won election to a full term in 1982 and was reelected in 1988.
Mitchell was born in Waterville, Maine, on Aug. 20, 1933. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1954. In 1960, he earned a law degree from Georgetown University. From 1960 to 1962, Mitchell worked as a trial lawyer at the U.S. Department of Justice. He served as an assistant to Senator Muskie from 1962 to 1965. From 1966 to 1968, Mitchell was chairman of the Democratic Party in Maine. He was elected to the Democratic National Committee in 1969 and served on the committee until 1977. From 1977 to 1979, he was U.S. attorney for the state of Maine. From 1979 to 1980, he served as U.S. district judge for that state.
In 1995, after Mitchell left the Senate, he became President Bill Clinton’s special envoy for Northern Ireland. Mitchell served as chairman of British-Irish negotiations to end the conflict in Northern Ireland (see Northern Ireland (The Good Friday Agreement) ). Mitchell also served on the boards of directors of several corporations after leaving public office. From 2004 to 2006, he served as chairman of the Walt Disney Company. In 2006, the baseball commissioner named Mitchell to lead an investigation into players’ use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. In 2007, Mitchell released a report that named dozens of current and former players as taking illegal steroids during their major-league careers. Mitchell called for tougher drug testing and other measures to combat steroid abuse. From 2009 to 2011, he served as President Barack Obama’s special envoy for Arab-Israeli affairs.
