George J. Mitchell, Jr. Quotes

• You know, the pessimism which exists now in the Middle East existed in Northern Ireland, but we stayed at it.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Pessimism

• When I went to college, my goal was to be a college history teacher. I majored in history.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in College

  Tags in Teacher

• What is good about the United States is the sense that you can disagree with the government and not be seen as unpatriotic, although many in the government will try to make you seem unpatriotic.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in United States, Government

• The result was, of course, that today, tragically, more than 40 million Americans don’t have health insurance, and for many, not having health insurance means they don’t have access to good health care.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Health

  Tags in American, Insurance

• So my father grew up in an orphanage in Boston. He was then adopted by an elderly childless couple from Maine, who gave him the name of Mitchell. He moved to Maine, and there he met my mother and was married.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Father, Life, Mother

  Tags in Parents

• So I developed very early a massive inferiority complex, and I’ve told the story often about how that inspired me later in life to get involved in other things, because I couldn’t out-do my brothers in sports, and it’s a very competitive relationship.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Sports

  Tags in Competitive, Relationship

• My parents were very poor, but we never felt any sense of need or want. It was a very close, loving, tightly-knit family growing up, and I never felt any sense of deprivation or anything like that.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Family

  Tags in Sense, Deprivation

• My mother was an immigrant from Lebanon to the United States. She came when she was 18 years old in 1920.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Mother

  Tags in Immigrant, United States

• My father was the orphaned son of immigrants to the United States from Ireland. My father never knew his parents. His mother died – we’re not sure – either at or shortly after his birth, and he and all of his siblings were placed in orphanages in the Boston area.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in United States, Immigrants, Parents

• In the spring of 1994 I decided not to seek reelection to the Senate. I had made the decision 12 years earlier, Christmas Day of 1982, just after I had been first elected to a full term, that I would do the best I could for a limited time.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Christmas

  Tags in Senate, Reelection

• In every society in human history, including the United States, those in power seek to imbue themselves with the attributes of religion and patriotism as a way of getting greater support for their policy and insulating themselves from any criticism.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Society

  Tags in United States, Human Life, Criticism

• I’m glad I made the decision, although the practice of law – and particularly serving as a federal judge – was a part of my life that I really enjoyed and treasured and look back on it with fondness.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Decisions, Life

  Tags in Self

• I was the United States Attorney for Maine for three years, and then was appointed a federal judge.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in United States, Federal, Judge

• I was born and raised in a small town in Maine, Waterville. I enjoyed living there – still do – and my goal in life was a fairly specific and focused one of practicing law in Maine.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Goal, Life

  Tags in Self

• I spent two years in the Army. And my older brother, who was also a great positive influence on me, encouraged me to think about law school, and I said – well, I didn’t have any money.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Influence, Positive

• I really owe everything to my parents and their devotion and drive to see to it that their children had the education which led to the opportunities that they never were able to have.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Children, Education

  Tags in Parents, Opportunities

• I had been involved in U.S. intelligence in Berlin, Germany, while in the military and had worked with a contact with the Central Intelligence Agency office there.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Intelligence

  Tags in United States

• I had a great interest in sports. I had three older brothers who were great athletes. I was not.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Sports

  Tags in Self, Interest

• I got a job with a law firm in Portland after a couple of years with Senator Muskie. But by then, my interest in politics had been sparked, through meeting Senator Muskie, through seeing what he did.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Job, Politics

  Tags in Self, Interest

• I enjoyed practicing law.

  George J. Mitchell, Jr.

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Self, Practicing

George J. Mitchell, Jr. (26)

Birth:	20th August, 1933
Nationality:	American
Profession:	Businessman, Lawyer, Politician

About

George J. Mitchell, Jr. was born in Waterville, Maine, USA. He is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician. A Democrat, Mitchell served as a United States Senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995 and as Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995. He has taken a leading role in negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland and the Middle East, being specifically appointed United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland by President Clinton and as United States Special Envoy for Middle East Peace by President Barack Obama. He served as chairman of The Walt Disney Company from March 2004 until January 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. He graduated in 1954. In 1961, he received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. He has since received an honorary LL.D. from Bates College.

Related Authors

• James E. Burke
• Mohnish Pabrai
• Mayer Amschel Rothschild
• Henry E. Catto, Jr.
• Arie de Geus
• Karl Marlantes
• Peter Shumlin
• Craig Bruce
• Samuel Cornelius Phillips
• George Montgomery

Advertisement

Today's Anniversary - 25th November

Births

• 1936 - William McIlvanney
• 1562 - Lope de Vega
• 1896 - Virgil Thomson
• 1880 - Leonard Woolf
• 1893 - Joseph Wood Krutch

Deaths

• 2002 - Karel Reisz
• 1998 - Nelson Goodman
• 1974 - U Thant
• 1970 - Yukio Mishima
• 1973 - Laurence Harvey