George Mitchell is a Democrat from Maine who led the US Senate from 1989 to 1995. He was voted the most respected member of the Senate for six consecutive years. Time magazine named him among the 100 most influential people in the world, and he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He joined Pat in studio this morning for an in-depth conversation about his long and illustrious career, as well as his personal life.
Despite his almost countless achievements, Mitchell remains modest. The son of a college janitor, George reminded listeners, "Everybody has a chance. I’m living proof. I was able to get an education and become the majority leader of the US Senate". His father's parents were from Ireland, while his mother emigrated from Lebanon at eighteen - a background that meant Mitchell was well-suited for some of his later international work.
He's best known in Ireland for serving as the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland between 1995 and 2001. He chaired the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work in the area. He arrived without trying to force a deal, recalling he came to Ireland with the belief "I don’t come here with an American proposal or a Clinton proposal. Any agreement will be yours." On the Good Friday Agreement, he says, "I knew it would not guarantee peace, or political stability or reconciliation, but it made those possible."
Following his work in Northern Ireland, he was also appointed as the United States Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, and held the role during the early months of the Arab Spring. He had also spent time working in the region before his role in Northern Ireland. He told Pat, “I’m about to say something I never dreamed I’d say: after 2.5 years in the Middle East dealing with Israelis and Arabs, the Irish were easy”
It's not all politics for Mitchell: some of his other roles have included a stint as a federal judge, ten years as the chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, and a role as chairman of the Walt Disney Company.
However, in terms of US politics, Mitchell mused, "We had a sense of a higher loyalty...that’s pretty much gone now".
You can listen back to the podcast of the interview with George Mitchell via the player above.
