Senator George Mitchell

Pundit 

Senator George J. Mitchell is the co-chair of Piper Rudnick's Government Controversies practice group. Mitchell entered the U.S. Senate in 1980 when he was appointed to complete the unexpired term of Senator Edmund S. Muskie, who resigned to become secretary of state.

In 1988, he was reelected with 81 percent of the vote, the largest margin in Maine history. In January 1989, he became Senate majority leader. He held that position until he left the Senate in 1995. During his tenure, Mitchell gained enormous bipartisan respect. It has been said "there is not a man, woman or child in the Capitol who does not trust George Mitchell." For six consecutive years he was voted "the most respected member" of the Senate by a bipartisan group of senior aides.

In 1996, the governments of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland asked Mitchell to chair peace negotiations in Northern Ireland. He led the negotiations for two years; work that ultimately resulted in an accord that ended decades of conflict. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor the U.S. government can give; the Philadelphia Liberty Medal; the Truman Institute Peace Prize; the German (Hesse) Peace Prize; and the United Nations (UNESCO) Peace Prize.

At the request of President Bill Clinton and Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Mitchell served as chairman of an international fact-finding committee on violence in the Middle East. The committee's recommendation, widely known as The Mitchell Report, was endorsed by the Bush Administration, the European Union, and many other governments.

After leaving the Senate, Mitchell served as Chairman of the Board of The Walt Disney Company. He is the chancellor of The Queen's University of Northern Ireland. He served as chairman of the International Crisis Group, as chairman of the Special Commission investigating allegations of impropriety in the bidding process for the Olympic Games, and as chairman of the National Health Care Commission. Working on a pro bono basis, he was the independent overseer of the American Red Cross Liberty Disaster Relief Fund, an organization formed to help victims of the 9/11 attacks.

Senator Mitchell is the author of four books: Men of Zeal, co-authored with his colleague, then-Senator William S. Cohen, on the Iran-Contra investigation; World on Fire, speaking to the threat of the greenhouse effect and recommending steps to curb it; Not For America Alone: The Triumph of Democracy and The Fall of Communism; and Making Peace, an account of his experiences in Northern Ireland.