George J. Mitchell

Judge of the United States District Court for the District of MaineIn office
October 5, 1979 – May 16, 1980Appointed byJimmy CarterPreceded bySeat establishedSucceeded byConrad K. Cyr United States Attorney
for the District of MaineIn office
1977–1979PresidentJimmy CarterPreceded byS. Peter Mills Jr.Succeeded byJames BranniganPersonal detailsBornGeorge John Mitchell Jr.
August 20, 1933

Children3EducationBowdoin College (BA)
Georgetown University (LLB)SignatureMilitary serviceAllegianceUnited StatesBranchUnited States Army

Service years

Mitchell urging stronger actions by the George H. W. Bush administration
against climate change.
Recorded February 18, 1992

George John Mitchell Jr. (born August 20, 1933) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A leading member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995, and as Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995. After retiring from the Senate, Mitchell played a leading role in negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland and the Middle East. He was appointed United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland (1995–2001) by President Clinton and as United States Special Envoy for Middle East Peace (2009–2011) by President Barack Obama.

Mitchell was a primary architect of the 1996 Mitchell Principles and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and was the main investigator in two "Mitchell Reports": one on the Arab–Israeli conflict (2001); and one on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball (2007).

Mitchell served as chairman of the Walt Disney Company from 2004 until 2007, and later as chairman of the international law firm DLA Piper. He was the Chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1999 to 2009. Mitchell also has served as a co-chair of the Housing Commission at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He is one of the few people in modern times to have served in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government.

To date, he is the most recent registered Democrat to represent Maine in the U.S. Senate.