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Showing 1281 - 1290 of 2039 Items

Statement by Ron Siviski collected by Erika Bjorum on November 6, 2015

Date: 2015-11-06

Creator: Ron Siviski

Access: Open access

Interview with Debbie Ward by Andrea L’Hommedieu

Date: 2010-02-05

Creator: Deborah 'Debbie' B Ward

Access: Open access

Biographical Note

Deborah “Debbie” (Bedard) Ward was born in Saco, Maine, on March 22, 1951. She was graduated from Thornton Academy in 1969 and then attended Westbrook College. Subsequently, she worked as a secretary for the Westbrook College Department of Nursing. In 1972, she became involved in reviving the Saco Young Democrats, and in 1973 George Mitchell hired her as the first staff person for his gubernatorial campaign. After Mitchell lost the election to Jim Longley, Ward returned to Westbrook College to work as a house mother. She took the position of calendar clerk for the Maine state legislature, then was elected assistant clerk and held that position for eighteen years.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: growing up in Saco in the 1950s and 1960s; splitting time between Virginia and Maine; reviving the Saco Young Democrats with Mike Aube and Barry Hobbins when Bill Hathaway ran against Margaret Chase Smith; campaigning as a part of the Young Democrats; being hired by Mitchell; Mitchell’s gubernatorial campaign volunteer base; working with Tony Buxton and Mike Aube; Mitchell’s running against and beating Joe Brennan in the primary; the state party structure; surprise at Longley winning the campaign; working as calendar clerk and assistant clerk for the state legislature; observing Mitchell’s progress to senator; and Joe Angelone.

Interview with Grace Reef by Diane Dewhirst

Date: 2009-03-26

Creator: Grace Reef

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteGrace Reef grew up in Portland, Maine, with her father, Norman Reef, an attorney, and her mother, Patricia Reef. In 1974, as a twelve-year-old, she was the first female Little League baseball player, having sued to integrate girls into the program. She first heard of Senator Mitchell when he ran for governor in 1974. She attended Colby College, graduating in 1983 with a degree in public policy. During college she interned in Mitchell’s Senate office in Washington, D.C.; she worked as a legislative correspondent and was later promoted to be a legislative assistant, eventually becoming one of Mitchell’s senior advisors on children and poverty issues and economic development. She worked for minority leader Tom Daschle after Mitchell retired in 1994, continuing to work on issues of welfare reform and child care. She also worked for Senator Chris Dodd as the minority staff director of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families. She has served as director of intergovernmental affairs for the Children’s Defense Fund. At the time of this interview, she was chief of policy and evaluation for the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA). SummaryInterview includes discussion of: interning in Mitchell’s Senate office; the legislative process; tax reform in the mid-1980s; Mitchell’s decision-making process; the Family Support Act; doing research on child care providers in Maine; child care and development block grants; the Better Child Care Act; the structure of the Senate and the work Mitchell had to do to get legislation passed; Title 4A At Risk Child Care; the compromise on child care vouchers (church-state); Mitchell’s “divide and conquer” approach to dealing with different senators’ doubts and bringing them on board; the Family Medical Leave Act; anecdote of Reef’s presence in the Rose Garden with Mitchell when the Family Medical Leave Act was signed; George H.W. Bush’s saying that they needed a “kinder, gentler nation”; Environment and Public Works Committee work and highway funding; the formula for gas tax returns; miscalculating the formula and watching the bill on the floor of the Senate for three weeks; the National Affordable Housing Act; Mitchell and the Maine delegation; Mitchell’s patience as his greatest attribute; and Mitchell’s sense of humor.

Interview with Norm Reef by Mike Hastings

Date: 2009-04-03

Creator: Norman 'Norm' S Reef

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteNorman S. “Norm” Reef was born on August 16, 1933, in Portland, Maine, where he grew up with his parents, Samuel Reef and Dora Reef, and seven siblings. His father emigrated from Lithuania at age fourteen and worked as a cobbler. Norm grew up in the Jewish community of Portland, and the family struggled to make ends meet during the Depression and World War II. He attended Boston University and after two years joined the Army; the Korean War ended just as he completed training. He returned to study public relations at Boston University and then attended law school to help with his brothers’ insurance finance business. After being married, he set up a law practice in Portland. He became part of the fund-raising group for the Maine Democratic Party and encouraged Governor Brennan to appoint Mitchell to the Senate. He has also done legal work for Mitchell and is a personal friend. His daughter, Grace Reef, worked as a legislative assistant in Mitchell’s U.S. Senate office. He retired in 1989 from full-time practice of law. At the time of this interview, he was working on bringing about the production of a patent he holds for an industrial waste incinerator that generates power, associated with the firm Maine Microfurnace. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: family and educational background; the Jewish community in Portland; growing up in a large family during WWII; the Army and being a dental technician in Texas; Boston University and being president of a fraternity; working with his brothers and going to law school; joining the finance committee for the Maine Democratic Party; Muskie’s swearing in as secretary of state 1980; meeting President Clinton; why Mitchell lost the 1974 gubernatorial race; a meeting in Augusta and Brennan’s decision to appoint Mitchell to the Senate; Mitchell at hockey games and his involvement with the Red Sox; Mitchell’s relationship to Muskie; Mitchell as U.S. attorney; humorous anecdotes about Grace’s internship in Mitchell’s office; Reef’s retirement and return to work; the Microfurnace patent; and Mitchell’s exceptional character.

Interview with Jeff Peterson by Brien Williams

Date: 2009-02-07

Creator: Jeffrey 'Jeff' W Peterson

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteJeffrey Ward Peterson was born on March 23, 1954, in Lexington, Massachusetts, to Jean H. and Dr. Merrill D. Peterson. He grew up in Lexington until age ten, then moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1964. He attended Bowdoin College and studied away for a semester at American University, where he held an internship with the Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations. After graduation he worked in Maine for two years, married, and moved to Seattle, Washington, to attend the University of Washington Graduate School of Public Affairs, where he earned a master’s degree while working part-time for the Environmental Protection Agency. He was later hired by the EPA to work at its Washington, DC, headquarters, and several years later he had the opportunity to work in Senator Mitchell’s office advising on water issues. He worked for the Environment and Public Works Committee for approximately eight years and then returned to work for the EPA. At the time of this interview, he was a senior policy advisor in the EPA Office of Water. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: growing up in Charlottesville, Virginia; Bowdoin College; working for the Environmental Protection Agency in Seattle, Washington; being a McGovern delegate to the Virginia state convention in high school and how Mitchell staffers later gave him a hard time about it; Peterson’s connection with Maine; figuring out a way to get the EPA to have him work for Mitchell; working in Senator Mitchell’s personal office as an EPA consultant; Senators Chafee’s and Mitchell’s working relationship; working on Clean Water; Mitchell’s role in Clean Water hearings; the National Estuaries Program; working with the House staff; lengthy description of the Clean Water Act history; Mitchell’s role in maintaining ties between the Clean Water Act and Maine; the difficulty and benefits of reconciling Senate and House versions of a bill; conference process for the Clean Water Act; working for the Environment and Public Works Committee staff and the transition to that from working for the EPA in Mitchell’s office; Mitchell staff relationships; memo writing; the Clean Water reauthorizations; Peterson’s internship at the Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations, chaired by Senator Muskie; Maine senators and the environment; other issues that Mitchell worked on; the issue of combined sewer overflows and the effect of Mitchell’s introducing legislation that addressed it; and Mitchell’s retirement from the Senate.

Interview with Jim Mitchell by Andrea L’Hommedieu

Date: 2009-12-07

Creator: James 'Jim' F Mitchell

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteJames F. “Jim” Mitchell was born on January 4, 1961, in Waterville, Maine, to Robert and Janet Mitchell. Mitchell worked as a teacher and coach in Ellsworth, Maine, and volunteered to work on local legislative races; he also worked on Ken Hayes’s congressional campaign against Olympia Snowe in 1988. He served as the Democratic state chairman during the Clinton administration; in 1994, he resigned as state chairman to run for Congress. Jim Mitchell is a nephew of George Mitchell. At the time of this interview, Jim was a lobbyist in Augusta, Maine, and remained active in politics. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: Waterville, Maine, in the 1960s; George and Mintaha Mitchell; Lebanese community in Waterville; Jim’s involvement in George Mitchell’s political campaigns; Ken Hayes’s congressional campaign; Jim Mitchell’s run for Congress; President Clinton’s inauguration; genuineness in politics; and Lebanese food.

Interview with John Nale by Mike Hastings

Date: 2010-01-22

Creator: John E Nale

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteJohn Elias Nale was born on September 4, 1949, in Farmerville, Louisiana, to Caroline Theresa (Boles) and Melvin Travis Nale. The family had moved to Louisiana from Bangor, Maine, returning first to Bangor and then to his mother’s home town, Waterville, Maine, during his childhood. He is a second cousin of George Mitchell; his grandmother and George Mitchell’s mother were sisters. Nale is a graduate of the University of Maine, Orono and the Franklin Pierce Law Center. Upon joining the bar, he practiced law in Waterville and Portland, Maine, including practicing law with his three brothers for fifteen years. At the time of this interview, he was practicing elder law at Nale Law Offices, Waterville, Maine. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: growing up in Waterville, Maine, as next-door neighbor of the Mitchells; the Lebanese community in Waterville; Nale’s immigrant Lebanese ancestry; practicing elder law; Lebanese emigration to the United States; visiting Mitchell in Washington, DC, to celebrate Mitchell’s elevation to Senate majority leader; recollections of Mitchell’s mother, Mary (Saad) Mitchell.

Interview with George Mitchell (1) by Andrea L’Hommedieu and Mike Hastings

Date: 2008-08-19

Creator: George J Mitchell

Access: Open access

Interview with George Mitchell (4) by Andrea L’Hommedieu

Date: 2011-03-21

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: health care issues, beginning with the Clinton administration in 1992; legislative battles relating to the economy during the Clinton administration; contacts with Senator John Chaffee while Mitchell was a federal prosecutor in Maine during the ‘70s, and their subsequent friendship and common interests in health care legislation; industry opposition to proposed health care legislation, and increasing Republican distaste even for their own health care bill; parallels between the Clinton health care legislative process and that of the Obama administration; speculation on the future of health care reform; Hillary Clinton’s involvement in and efforts on behalf of the failed health care legislation in the early ‘90s; environmental issues and how those relate to health care; legislative efforts in the Senate relating to Clean Water and Clean Air; the substantial improvements to waterways as a result of the Clean Water acts, citing Maine as an example; the history of federal legislative and executive influences on Clean Water, and the staying power of that legislation; Mitchell’s affection for Senator Muskie; Acadia National Park boundary issues, and how dealing with those sharpened his negotiating skills; transitioning to fill Senator Muskie’s Senate seat; affection for Mt. Desert Island as a summer getaway locale; administrative staff, particularly Mainers, and their importance in Senate affairs; immigrant family history, growing up in Waterville, Maine, and how those experiences influenced his career; his father’s adoption; the role of the Maronite rite of the Catholic Church in family life; Mitchell’s inferiority in athletics compared to his brothers’ abilities; detailed recollections of his parents, their personalities, and their interests; food, cooking, and hospitality in the Waterville Mitchell household; reestablishing train service between Boston and Portland, Maine.

Interview with Fred Wertheimer by Diane Dewhirst

Date: 2009-07-10

Creator: Fred Wertheimer

Access: Open access

Biographical NoteFred Wertheimer was born on January 9, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School. From 1981 to 1995 he served as president of Common Cause, a nonpartisan citizens’ lobby, and he worked with Senator Mitchell on campaign finance reform issues while he was president of Common Cause. At the time of this interview he was president of Democracy 21, a nonprofit organization that promotes the government reform of campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics. He is married to Linda Wertheimer, the senior national correspondent for National Public Radio. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: Wertheimer’s first impressions of Mitchell when they began working on campaign finance issues together; the state of campaign finance reform in the 1980s and early 1990s; process of creating the bill to ban soft money; working with Mitchell on campaign finance reform; Mitchell’s relationship with Senator Boren; and Mitchell’s toughness and integrity.

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