Date: 2009-10-28

Creator: David F Durenberger

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

David F. Durenberger was born August 19, 1934, in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He attended St. John’s University and the University of Minnesota Law School, graduating in 1959. Beginning in 1966, he was chief of staff to Minnesota Governor Harold LeVander. In 1978, he won a special election to finish the unexpired term of Senator Hubert Humphrey, was reelected twice, and held the seat until 1995. He served as chairman on the Select Committee on Intelligence, was vice chair of the Pepper Commission, and had a special interest in issues involving health care. At the time of this interview, he was a health policy fellow at the University of St. Thomas, and he sat on the advisory board for Energy Literacy Advocates.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: the Republican influx to legislature in 1980; first impressions of Mitchell and how Mitchell differed from Muskie; Mitchell as a colleague on committees; Iran-Contra; observations on Mitchell’s staff; reactions to Mitchell’s being elected majority leader; Clear Air Act; Mitchell’s ability to build consensus; Voting Rights Act; Mitchell’s reputation with the Republican Caucus; Warren Rudman; health care; the mainstream group on the Clinton health plan; Mitchell as a centrist on health care; Dole on Clinton’s plan; the future of political parties; and Mitchell’s legacy.

Date: 2008-09-23

Creator: Janet M Dennis

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Janet Mary Dennis was born on September 5, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Clemenza Rowlandson Sullivan and William Aloysius Sullivan. Her father was a postal inspector and her mother was a parochial schoolteacher. Janet grew up in Waterville, Maine, and was the youngest of five children. She attended Thomas College. In May of 1965, she spent a year as Senator Muskie’s secretary in Washington, D.C., and then became the office manager in Muskie’s Waterville and Augusta state Senate offices. She also did work for the Senate Public Works Committee on the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution under Leon Billings until May of 1970. She worked with George Mitchell on Muskie’s 1970 U.S. Senate reelection campaign. In 1980, when Mitchell was appointed to Muskie’s Senate seat, she remained on staff working in the Waterville state Senate office. Janet’s sister graduated in the same high school class as George Mitchell’s sister, Barbara.

Summary

Interview includes discussions of: family and educational background; Waterville community; working for Muskie and Mitchell; Mitchell’s personality and intellectual capacity; comparison between Mitchell and Muskie; Muskie’s 1972 presidential campaign; Mitchell’s Waterville office; Muskie’s 1970 Senate campaign; and Colby College.

Date: 2010-03-18

Creator: Patrick J Leahy

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Patrick Joseph Leahy was born in Montpelier, Vermont, on March 31, 1940. He was graduated from Saint Michael’s College in 1961 and Georgetown Law in 1964. Beginning in 1966, he was elected to four consecutive terms as Vermont state’s attorney in Chittenden County. At the age of 34, he became the youngest U.S. senator ever elected by Vermont, and he is the only elected Democrat from Vermont ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. During the 1980s, he was vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. At the time of this interview, he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a senior member of the Agriculture and Appropriations Committees, ranking second in seniority in the Senate.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: Mitchell’s arrival in the Senate and his perceived qualities, especially his negotiating skills; Mitchell’s quick rise to Senate leadership; Mitchell’s decision to retire from the Senate; Mitchell’s potential as a Supreme Court justice.

Date: 2009-05-08

Creator: Audrey Sheppard

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Audrey Sheppard was born on July 31, 1948, in Newton-Wellesley, Massachusetts; her mother, Annabel, married Jack Sheppard, Jr., during Audrey’s infancy after the death of Audrey’s father. She attended Syracuse University, where she studied journalism and political science. After graduation, she worked at Brandeis University and then as a paralegal at a Boston law firm. She worked for the McGovern presidential campaign of 1972, spent some time working on Capitol Hill, and then went to Rothstein/Buckley, a political consulting firm. She later started her own political consulting firm that focused on women candidates. Between 1981 and 1987, she served as assistant executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; working at Rothstein/Buckley and the Muskie reelection campaign; first impressions of Mitchell; Budget Committee work; the changes and similarities between campaigning in 1976 and campaigning now; working at the DSCC for six years; the mission of the DSCC and the strategy that they adopted during Sheppard’s time there; developing both sides of the DSCC’S responsibilities – fund-raising and technical assistance – and the increasing effectiveness of their efforts through the 1986 elections when Senator Mitchell was chair of the Committee; the structure of the DSCC and how appointments were made; relations between the DSCC, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC); opposition research; fund-raising and the Democratic Senate Leadership Circle; the internal organization of the DSCC and the division of various tasks; candidate recruitment and the recruitment committee that Mitchell helped start and served on; the 1986 election; Mitchell’s leadership style; the Elizabeth Taylor joke; Mitchell’s swearing in new citizens; an anecdote about Ted Kennedy going for a swim before an event on the Maine coast; the degree to which protocol and neatness were important to Mitchell; and Sheppard’s hope that Mitchell would be appointed secretary of state under Clinton.

Date: 2008-03-24

Creator: David P Ray

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteDavid 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. SummaryInterview 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

Biographical NoteHeather 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. SummaryInterview 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

Biographical NoteGeorge 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). SummaryInterview 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

Biographical NoteWilliam “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. SummaryInterview 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: 2010-03-23

Creator: Susan W Longley

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteSusan Walsh Longley was born in December, 1955, in Lewiston, Maine, to James B. and Helen Longley. Her father, a successful insurance businessman, ran for governor in 1974 and won election during her senior year in high school. She attended Mt. Holyoke College, graduating in the class of 1978. In 1984-1985, she worked on Senator Mitchell’s Senate staff as a legislative correspondent. She established her own law practice in 1989 and later served as a Maine state senator representing Waldo County. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: family and educational background; her father, former Maine governor Jim Longley and his election as an independent; 1974 Maine gubernatorial campaign; anecdote about being hired by Senator Mitchell; U.S. Senate staff relationships: Gayle Cory, Mary McAleney, Anita Jensen; Topsham overpass issue; working on Mitchell’s Senate staff 1984-85; and environmental correspondence.

Date: 2008-10-09

Creator: Charles 'Charlie' J Micoleau

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteCharles 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. SummaryInterview 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.