Showing 1 - 2 of 2 Items
Date: 2009-09-24
Creator: Najeeb 'Naj' S Lotfey
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Najeeb S. Lotfey was born in July, 1942, in Portland, Maine, to Elias and Lillian Lotfey, both from Lebanon. He attended the Northeastern School of Accounting in Portland, Maine, served in the Army for two years, and later joined MacDonald Page where he became a managing partner and stayed for more than thirty years. He has served many of Senator Mitchell’s financial management needs over the years. Former Governor Joe Brennan appointed him to the Finance Authority of Maine.
Summary
Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; Portland, Maine community; the Depression era; career with MacDonald Page and George Mitchell as a client; keeping in touch with the Mitchells regularly; Joe Brennan; description of Joe Angelone and his political interests and pizza shops; Lebanese food; and George Mitchell’s qualities.
Date: 2009-01-13
Creator: Joanne A Hoffmann
Access: Open access
Biographial Note
Joanne Amnott Hoffmann was born April 23, 1936, in Lewiston, Maine. Her father was the chief of police in Lewiston, and her mother was a housewife. Joanne graduated from Lewiston High School and continued her education at the Auburn School of Commerce, learning shorthand and typing. She became a legal secretary, first working for Harris Isaacson and then for the firm of Clifford & Clifford under William Clifford. In 1959, she moved to Washington, DC, as Senator Muskie’s personal secretary. She stayed in the Senate office until 1965, when she married Frank “Nordy” Hoffmann, a Washington lobbyist and sergeant-at-arms of the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 1981. The Hoffmanns and the Muskies maintained personal friendships in later years.
Summary
Interview includes discussions of: going to Washington D.C. in 1959; the early days of Muskie’s office; Kennedy’s election and assassination; working as Muskie’s personal secretary; meeting and working with George Mitchell when he was Muskie’s administrative assistant; Muskie’s temper; Mitchell’s courtship; Mitchell in Muskie’s office and his decision to return to Maine to practice law; involvement on the Muskie ’68 vice-presidential campaign; leaving Muskie’s office; comparing senators Muskie and Mitchell; Mitchell’s people skills; political wives and Jane Muskie; and connections to Maine and the environment.