Showing 221 - 230 of 388 Items

Date: 2014-08-06

Creator: Luke Joseph

Access: Open access

Date: 2015-08-27

Creator: Joshua Toner

Access: Open access

Date: 2014-10-30

Creator: Edward Peter Paul

Access: Open access

Date: 2015-11-06

Creator: Ron Siviski

Access: Open access

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.