Showing 191 - 200 of 204 Items
Date: 2009-11-09
Creator: Deborah 'Deb' Cotter
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Deborah “Deb” Cotter was born on November 7, 1967, in New York City. She grew up in Waterville, Maine, where her father was president of Colby College and her mother worked in the Career Development Office. She attended Wells College and received a degree in Russian studies. After graduating, Cotter worked in George Mitchell’s personal office in Washington, D.C., for four years as receptionist, legislative correspondent, and legislative aide on agricultural, fisheries, and environmental issues. After Mitchell retired, she moved to the Senate Historical Office as a research assistant and earned her master’s degree in history from George Mason University. She worked at the American Psychological Association on public policy for mental health issues for eight years. More recently, she worked for the nonprofit National Council on Independent Living. At the time of this interview, she was a management and program analyst in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services of the U.S. Department of Education.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: growing up in Waterville, Maine; being hired by Mitchell’s Senate office in 1990; the support of Mitchell’s staff when Cotter had a health emergency; the transition from receptionist to legislative correspondent and legislative aide; Mitchell’s investment in Maine issues; working with lobbyists as a legislative aide; the ambience of Mitchell’s personal office; the pecking order in Mitchell’s office; staff meetings; Cotter’s work after Mitchell announced his retirement; Mitchell’s influence on Cotter’s career; how the office changed after Mitchell announced his retirement; and Mitchell’s respect for opposing views.
Date: 2010-05-18
Creator: Walter E Corey III
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Walter Ellsworth Corey III was born June 19, 1941, in White Plains, New York, to Walter E., Jr. and Theresa (Stallone) Corey and grew up mainly on Staten Island. His father was an insurance executive with Metropolitan Life and his mother was a homemaker. They divided their time between New York and Ogunquit, Maine. He attended Yale Law School, then moved to Maine to join the Portland law firm Bernstein Shur; he left the firm to serve in the Ken Curtis administration as Maine’s first federal coordinator. He was active in several of Mitchell’s campaigns, for governor and for the U.S. Senate, and they shared a fondness for tennis.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; Ken Curtis administration; working with George Mitchell on policy and speeches in the late 1960s; description of playing tennis with George Mitchell and foot faulting; 1974 Maine gubernatorial campaign; 1982 U.S. Senate campaign; sense of humor and tennis stories (Harold Pachios and Juris Ubans); and description of George Mitchell’s accomplishments and attributes.
Date: 2009-09-18
Creator: Jesse 'Jeff' F Bingaman
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Jeff Bingaman grew up in Silver City, New Mexico. He was graduated from Harvard University and received his law degree from Stanford University. In 1978, he was elected New Mexico attorney general. In 1982, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and has served five terms to date. He has served on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Finance Committee, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: how Mitchell positioned himself for the majority leader position; Mitchell’s leadership style; comparison of Mitchell to other majority and minority leaders; Bingaman’s reaction when Mitchell announced his retirement; health care in 1993-1994; changes in the Senate as a legislative body; Mitchell’s legacy; and the ideological spectrum in Senate.
Date: 2009-08-21
Creator: Arthur E Strout
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Arthur Edward Strout was born in Rockland, Maine, on September 6, 1935, to Olive Mabel (Edwards) and Alfred Meserve Strout and grew up in Thomaston, Maine. His father, a graduate of Bowdoin College and Harvard Law School, was an attorney in Rockland, Maine, and came from an established Maine family. His mother, the daughter of English immigrants, worked at the Registry of Deeds and later was a homemaker. After attending Thomaston schools, Arthur spent his final year of high school at Hebron Academy. He attended Bowdoin College (class of 1957), where he met George Mitchell. He earned his law degree in 1960 and then clerked for a judge in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. He worked for the Tax Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and then went on to practice tax and finance law, returning to Maine in 1972. His son Charles also attended Bowdoin College and worked as a Senate page during Mitchell’s tenure there.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; Claude Allen as school master at Hebron Academy; meeting Mitchell at Bowdoin; attending Bowdoin from 1953-1957 and the housing situation; academics at Bowdon; law school and practicing tax law; continued contact with Mitchell; son Charles’s working with Mitchell; current life in Boston; and reflections on Mitchell and his current activities.
Date: 2010-02-25
Creator: Frank P Wood
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Frank P. Wood was born in 1949 in Sanford, Maine. His father was Lawrence Wood, a farm machinery salesman, and his mother was Arlene Wood, a secretary and college administrator. He became interested in politics at an early age, working on campaigns throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He served in the Maine legislature from 1977 to 1985, serving on the Taxation and Agriculture committees.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: meeting Mitchell while Wood was in college at USM; Mitchell and Ken Curtis; working with Larry Benoit on campaigns; Mitchell and Emery in 1982; the tide turning in favor of Mitchell; changes in Mitchell’s campaigns from 1974 to 1982 to 1988; Mitchell defeating Jasper Wyman in 1988; keeping up with current events during the campaigns; Mitchell’s sense of humor; and Mitchell’s legacy.
Date: 2008-03-24
Creator: David P Ray
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
David Paul Ray was born on July 21, 1952, in Eastport, Maine. He was the third of six children and second-generation Lebanese on his father’s side. He attended the University of Maine, Orono and was graduated in 1974 with a degree in political science; he then attended Cornell Law School. He began his law career with the firm Jensen, Baird with George Mitchell and later became a clerk for Mitchell during his federal judgeship. When Mitchell was appointed to fill Senator Muskie’s vacated Senate seat, Ray accompanied him to Washington D.C., working on his staff as a legislative assistant for the next two years. Ray returned to Maine to continue his law career after the transition period.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; growing up in Eastport, Maine; political professors at the University of Maine; Mitchell’s legal career and federal judgeship; interning for Bill Cohen; Mitchell’s Senate office in Washington D.C.; and notable staff members in Mitchell’s Senate office.
Date: 2010-02-05
Creator: Heather M Mitchell
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Heather McLachlan Mitchell was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, and lived in Paris, France, for fifteen years. She was assistant to the executive director of the Association of Tennis Professionals and subsequently represented professional male tennis players. She relocated from Paris to New York and in 1993 met George Mitchell at the U.S. Open. The two were married in 1994. She later worked independently coordinating tennis events. Once their children started school, she began working as a literary agent at Gelfman Schneider.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: Heather Mitchell’s career representing professional tennis players; meeting George Mitchell at the U.S. Open in 1993; her transition from sports to politics; George Mitchell’s tennis playing; dating Mitchell; the decision to get married and not run for reelection; Heather’s career as a literary agent after their children entered school; Northern Ireland; security issues in Northern Ireland; Mitchell’s contact with Verner Liipfert, the State Department, and the White House during his time in Northern Ireland; Mitchell’s becoming chairman of the Walt Disney Co.; Mitchell’s transition from Verner Liipfert to DLA Piper; becoming special envoy to the Middle East; Heather’s role in supporting Mitchell; the balance between public and private life; and Mitchell’s sense of humor.
Date: 2008-09-11
Creator: George J Mitchell
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
George J. Mitchell was born on August 20, 1933, in Waterville, Maine, to Mary Saad, a factory worker, and George Mitchell, a laborer. Senator Mitchell spent his youth in Waterville. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College in 1954, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps until 1956. In 1960 he earned a law degree from Georgetown University. Mitchell worked for Senator Edmund S. Muskie as executive assistant and as deputy campaign manager during Muskie's 1972 presidential campaign. He later became U.S. senator (D-Maine) 1980-1995, Senate majority leader 1989-1995, and, upon his retirement from the Senate, special advisor on Northern Ireland 1995-1998. Since 1998, Senator Mitchell has served on many boards and committees and has received high profile appointments including: chairman of the Sharm el-Sheikh International Fact-Finding Committee on the crisis between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (2000); overseer of the Red Cross Liberty Fund (2001); lead investigator into the illegal use of performance enhancing substances in Major League Baseball (2006); and special envoy for Palestinian-Israeli affairs (2009-2011).
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: Maine Indian Land Claims case; Joseph Brennan; appointment to U.S. Senate; Acadia National Park; Finance Committee assignment story; becoming majority leader story; Bennett Johnston; John Glenn; deputy president pro tempore; John Stennis; 1982 election time ‘polls’ story; Howell Heflin and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Canal; foreign affairs interests; 1986 Gorbachev meeting; Berlin trip; Clarence Thomas confirmation hearing; bargaining as a tool in the Senate; John Major story; John Tower hearing story; filibusters and how the use of them has changed; Senate parliamentarians and their role; relationship with Robert Dole; Brady Bill; and striking a balance with Senate security.
Date: 2008-04-24
Creator: William 'Bill' E Mitchell
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
William “Bill” Mitchell was born in Waterville, Maine, on November 18, 1961, to Paul and Yvette Mitchell. He grew up in Waterville and attended Western New England College, then returned to Waterville and became involved with his father’s business, GHM Insurance Agency, where he continues to work. George J. Mitchell, Jr. is Bill’s uncle and Paul’s brother.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: Waterville, Maine, from the 1960s to present; Lebanese influence and other ethnic and religious backgrounds while growing up in Waterville; family involvement in politics; Atkin’s Printing Company; involvement in George Mitchell’s 1974 Maine gubernatorial campaign; family experiences with George Mitchell; cribbage; traditional Lebanese cooking; memories of his grandparents, George, Sr. and Mary (Saad); Waterville’s response to George Mitchell; and family values.
Date: 2008-10-09
Creator: Charles 'Charlie' J Micoleau
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Charles J. “Charlie” Micoleau was born on February 2, 1942, in Englewood, New Jersey. He attended Bowdoin College, graduating in 1963. He earned a master’s degree in international relations at Johns Hopkins University in 1965 and received his J.D. from George Washington University in 1977. Micoleau worked in Maine for an anti-poverty program in 1965, and eventually worked his way into the Maine Democratic Party ranks. He was a scheduler for Senator Muskie’s 1970 campaign and was his administrative assistant from 1975 to 1977. From 1984 through 1992, he was a member of the Democratic National Committee. At the time of this interview, he was practicing law at the firm of Curtis, Thaxter, Stevens, Broder, and Micoleau.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: meeting Mitchell; getting involved in the Maine Democratic Party; Ed Muskie’s campaign for the vice-presidential nomination in ’68; working on Muskie’s 1970 Senate reelection campaign with Mitchell; working with Mitchell; working on Mitchell’s campaign for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee; knowing Mitchell as a practitioner of law; his involvement in the historic preservation tax credits; Mitchell’s 1974 gubernatorial campaign; and Mitchell’s appointment as a U.S district court judge in 1978.