Showing 1 - 7 of 7 Items

Date: 2008-09-05

Creator: Severin Beliveau

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Severin Beliveau was born in Rumford, Maine, on March 15, 1938. He grew up in Rumford, where the largest industry was the paper mill. When he was sixteen he left home for St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts before attending Georgetown University, graduating in 1961. From 1961 to 1964 he studied law at Georgetown. He has been a lifelong Democrat, succeeded George J. Mitchell as chairman of the Maine Democratic Party in the late 1960s, and served on the National Committee. He helped found and served in the Democratic State Chairs Association. He was present at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and served as a delegate to the 1972 convention in New York City. He escorted President Carter during his visit to Bangor, Maine, during Carter’s reelection campaign. He worked for the Save Loring Committee. He has been involved in efforts to represent Franco heritage in Maine’s government and education. In 1999, he was interviewed for the Edmund S. Muskie Oral History Project. At the time of this interview he was a partner at the law firm Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau, Pachios & Haley, LLC.

Summary

Interview includes discussions of: family background; Rumford, Maine, community; Maine’s Franco American community; St. John’s Preparatory School; Georgetown University; an anecdote about why he did not matriculate at Bowdoin; early law practice in Maine; working as a capitol police officer; the relationships among Maine’s politically active Democratic families; the 1968 Democratic National Convention and presidential nomination process; Muskie’s presidential primary campaign in 1972; the Democratic State Chairs Association; anecdote about Muskie taking Bob Strauss to task; Watergate; President Carter’s visit to Bangor; the Loring Air Force Base closure; Ted Kennedy’s campaign against President Carter for the Democratic nomination; anecdote about Muskie releasing his delegates at the convention in 1972; George J. Mitchell’s reputation and effectiveness; and Emmett Beliveau’s experience working for the Obama Campaign in 2008.

Date: 2008-05-01

Creator: Mary E McAleney

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Mary Elizabeth McAleney was born on March 18, 1945, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Her mother, Helen Irene (Twombly) McAleney, was a Works Progress Administration worker, and her father, William McAleney, was a U.S. Customs officer. Mary came from a strongly Democratic Maine family and was politically active from a young age. She was sent from her home near Vanceboro, Maine, to St. Joseph’s boarding school in South Portland, and from there she went to Merrimac College. After her graduation, she taught high school in Maine, first at St. Joseph’s and then at Catherine McAuley High School. After eight years of teaching, she went into political work. She quickly rose through the ranks during Senator Muskie’s ‘76 campaign and worked for state Senator Jim Tierney. She served in George Mitchell’s U.S. Senate office for ten years (1984-1994), focusing on Maine issues.

Summary

Interview includes discussions of: George Mitchell’s dedication to and impact on Maine as senator and majority leader; opportunities for young people within Mitchell’s Senate office; health care: spousal impoverishment legislation; Talmadge Plantation; Mitchell Scholarship program/Mitchell Institute; sending Maine bottled water to the Senate; achieving balance between Maine and national politics; Mitchell’s understanding of human nature; Martha Pope; relationship between Pope and Mitchell; Loring Air Force Base and its closure; Paul Haines; Bob Corolla; McAleney’s introduction to the Mitchell staff and her job definition; Gayle Cory and her “wits and know-how”; Mitchell’s Senate Pioneer Scholarship; Mitchell’s 1982 campaign; and driving stories.

Date: 2009-03-31

Creator: John W. Warner

Access: Audio recording permanently restricted

Biographical NoteJohn William Warner was born February 18, 1927, to John W. Warner and Martha Budd Warner. He grew up in Washington, D.C. and was graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1945. He enlisted in the Navy after high school and is a veteran of World War II. After leaving the service he attended Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, graduating in 1949. He attended law school at the University of Virginia but left to serve in the Marines during the Korean War; subsequently, he received his law degree from George Washington University in 1953, served as a law clerk and became an assistant U.S. attorney before going into private practice in 1960, when he also served as a member of Richard Nixon’s advance staff during the 1960 presidential campaign. He married Catherine Conover Mellon in 1967 and they had three children before divorcing in 1973. In 1969, Warner was appointed undersecretary of the Navy, and then in 1972 he rose to be secretary of the Navy, a post he held for two years. President Ford appointed him director of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. In 1976, he married Elizabeth Taylor; they divorced in 1982. In 1978, Warner ran unsuccessfully in the Virginia Republican primary for the U.S. Senate; however, when the nominee was killed in a plane crash, he was asked to step in with only ten weeks until the election. Warner managed a narrow victory, earning the nickname “Landslide Johnny,” and remained in the Senate for thirty years, eventually retiring in 2009 as Virginia’s second longest serving senator. At the time of this interview he was a partner at the firm Hogan & Hartson, now Hogan Lovells. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: Warner’s entry into politics in 1960 as a member of then Vice President Nixon’s advance staff; opening Nixon’s Washington, D.C. office in 1968; serving as undersecretary, and later secretary, of the navy; working on the nation’s bicentennial; the 1978 Virginia Senate race; an anecdote about Warner and Mike Mansfield serving in the military; majority and minority leaders descriptions; the role of the filibuster in the Senate and how it has evolved; Mitchell’s Elizabeth Taylor joke and sense of humor in general; how the Republican caucus regarded Mitchell; an anecdote about Washington and Jefferson discussing the role of the Senate in the bicameral system; George Mitchell’s interest in environmental issues and the Clean Air Act; the ISTEA transportation bill; projects, or “pork”; the Gulf War Resolution; Mitchell’s views on military spending and awarding of shipbuilding contracts; BRAC proceedings and the Loring Air Force Base closure; the pendulum of political power; the political shift in 1980 with Reagan’s election; Reagan’s economic policies; how the culture of the Senate has changed; the increased importance of fund-raising; former House members in the Senate; Maine senators and distinguished careers; the Gang of Fourteen; Warner’s role in electing Bill Frist to majority leader; the Clintons’ attempt at health care reform; Warner’s role in encouraging Dole to run for majority leader; Hillary Clinton as a senator; Mitchell’s career since leaving the Senate; the challenges Mitchell faces as special envoy for the Middle East; Warner’s thoughts on leaving the Senate, and his plans for the future at the firm Hogan Lovells.

Date: 2008-09-27

Creator: Floyd L Harding

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Floyd L. Harding was born on August, 26, 1923, in Albion, Maine. His father was a rural mail carrier and his family lived and ran a small family farm. He is one of twelve children (10 boys and 2 girls). He attended Bessey High School in Albion and Colby College. He served in the Army for three years, where he was taken prisoner-of-war. In 1949, he received his law degree from Boston University; he then moved to Presque Isle, Maine, and has practiced law there ever since. He worked for the Maine Potato Growers as assistant general counselor from 1950-1954 and established his own practice in 1954. He served three terms on the Maine state Senate (his wife ran one of his campaigns). He and his wife raised nine children.

Summary

Interview includes discussions of: parental political leanings and the naming of their son Warren; Harding’s experience as a prisoner-of-war in Dresden during World War II; his work for the Potato Board; family law in Presque Isle; the Democratic Party’s development in Maine; serving as a state senator and as majority leader; the “car beside the road” analogy for progressive policy; Mitchell’s cow joke; the contrast between Mitchell and Muskie; Loring Air Force Base closure and its transition to various civilian uses; the founding of Northern Maine Community College; taking issue positions during a campaign and how Mitchell learned from Harding; and Mitchell as an advocate for Maine.

Date: 2008-09-27

Creator: Marcia Ann Gartley

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Marcia Ann (Bacha) Gartley was born on October 2, 1952, in Bradford, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Rixford, Pennsylvania, in the Appalachian Mountains, with her mother Mary, her father George, and three brothers. Her father worked in the Pennsylvania oil fields. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in political science. She moved to Maine in the 1970s and in 1987 began to work in Senator George Mitchell’s Presque Isle office as a case worker. She has remained active in Aroostook County Democratic politics, serving as city chair, county chair, and treasurer. She has also worked for Governor John Baldacci and Representative Mike Michaud. At the time of this interview she was a contractor for the United States Department of Agriculture.

Summary

Interview includes discussions of: University of Pittsburgh; case work in the Presque Isle field office; Senator Mitchell as majority leader; Aroostook County Democratic Party; outer space anecdote and Mitchell’s response; Loring Air Force Base closure; the potato industry and farming in Aroostook County; the Presque Isle community; the Vahlsing case; and Senator Mitchell’s decision to step down.

Date: 2009-11-24

Creator: Brett O'Brien

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Brett O’Brien was born on January 27, 1963, in Inglewood, California, to William and Rosalie O’Brien. He spent most of his youth in San Diego and attended Harvard, graduating in 1985. He worked for the American University in Cairo, Egypt, completed a master’s program at the London School of Economics, and then worked at the Congressional Research Service in foreign affairs and national defense. He worked for Congressman Jim Bates from San Diego, California, as a legislative assistant in foreign affairs. He began working for George Mitchell on the Democratic Policy Committee as a researcher and writer, which also included being an assistant to the Senate majority leader’s aides.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: O’Brien’s educational background; his interest in international relations; working at the Congressional Research Service; working on the Senate Democratic Policy Committee and meeting Mitchell; Defense Authorization Bill; Mitchell’s addressing Maine issues, such as Bath Iron Works, from Washington; working on the Middle East portfolio, especially foreign assistance to Lebanon; the military base closure process and Loring Air Force Base, Brunswick, Charleston, and Long Beach bases; and Mitchell’s decision-making process.

Date: 2009-04-30

Creator: Robert 'Bob' J Carolla

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Robert J. “Bob” Carolla was born in 1956, in Suffern, New York, to Anthony and Mary Pugliese Carolla. When he was eight years old the family moved from Pearl River, New York, to Canastota, New York, where his father was a high school principal. Bob attended Middlebury College. Upon graduation he worked as the press secretary and political director of the Democratic Conference, which was a project of Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). He earned his law degree from Boston University in 1982. He worked with a law firm in Portland, Maine, and volunteered for the joint Brennan-Mitchell campaign in 1982. He accepted another position with ADA in Washington, DC, and was then hired by Mitchell’s Senate office as a legislative assistant. He began by handling foreign policy and defense issues and took on labor and commerce issues during his tenure in that position. At the time of this interview, he was director of media relations for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Arlington, Virginia.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: Iran-Contra 1986-1987; minimum wage bill veto; 1986 Maine Central Railroad strike; Portsmouth Dry Dock; Loring Air Force Base; Pan Am 103 terrorist bombing in 1988; Ford Aviation subcommittee and the aviation bill in 1990; working with Senator Ford; Mitchell’s presidential potential; Mitchell’s background; and Maine Peace Mission in 1987.