Showing 1 - 10 of 23 Items

Date: 2008-07-29

Creator: Robert 'Larry' L Benoit

Access: Open access

Biographical Note Robert Laurent “Larry” Benoit was born on August 20, 1948, to Robert Barry Benoit and Inez Frances Benoit. He grew up in the Portland, Maine, area, attended Cape Elizabeth High School, and entered the University of Southern Maine, where he concentrated in U.S. history and received a B.S. in education in 1970. He was a self-taught mechanic but became involved in politics at a young age, running for a vacant seat in the House of Representatives while still in college. After graduating, he took time off to travel and visit family and was then approached in 1971 to work in New Hampshire on Senator Muskie's presidential campaign. Benoit also worked on the reelection campaign of Peter N. Kyros, Sr., a U.S. congressman from Maine’s First Congressional District. He was on the staff as a caseworker until Kyros lost his seat in 1974 to David Emery. In 1980, when George Mitchell was appointed to Senator Muskie’s vacated U.S. Senate seat, Benoit was hired as a senior field representative for Maine. He later served as sergeant-at-arms of the U.S. Senate. Summary Interview includes discussions of: position with the Maine Democratic Party; work on Muskie’s 1968 vice presidential campaign; running field operations; working for Peter Kyros on the congressional reelection campaign, and later work as a caseworker on his congressional staff in Portland, Maine; establishing the Portland state Senate office; as campaign manager of Mitchell’s U.S. Senate campaign (1982); Mitchell’s U.S. Senate campaign (1988); Jasper Wyman; David Emery; Iran-Contra; work in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC; Senate security; and the intelligence and intellectual energy of Senator Mitchell.

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: 2009-11-11

Creator: Alan K Simpson

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Alan K. Simpson was born September 2, 1931. He attended Cody, Wyoming, public schools and the University of Wyoming, taking a B.S. degree in 1954 and a law degree in 1958. In 1954, he married Susan Ann Schroll, who was a fellow student at the University of Wyoming. He practiced law in Cody, held positions as assistant attorney general and city attorney, and was a United States Commissioner from 1959-1969. He was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1964-1977. Subsequently, he served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican representing Wyoming from 1979-1997, first by briefly filling the seat vacated by Clifford P. Hansen, and then by election. His father, Milward L. Simpson, also served as senator for Wyoming (1962-1967), and as governor (1955-1959). Alan was Senator Bob Dole’s assistant (majority/minority) leader for ten years, including the six years when George Mitchell was majority leader. In addition to other committee service, he served as chair of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee from 1981-1987.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: Edmund S. Muskie story; description of Senator Mitchell; Clean Air Act; Iran-Contra; speaking engagements with Mitchell; majority leader; senatorial relationships; Simpson-Mitchell relationship; Al Gore; George Mitchell’s sense of humor; and Mitchell’s legacy.

Date: 2009-09-14

Creator: Donald "Don" Riegle

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Don Riegle was born in Flint Michigan in 1938. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan-Flint in 1960, his M.B.A. from Michigan State University in 1961 and attended Harvard Business School. He worked for IBM from 1961 to 1964 and has taught at Michigan State University, Boston University, University of Southern California, and Harvard University. He served five terms in Congress and three in Senate as a representative from Michigan. He was one of the Keating Five, US Senators accused of corruption in 1989. From 1989 to 1995 he served as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. In 1995 he began working for Shandwick International in Washington, D.C.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: why Riegle changed parties in 1973 (from Republican to Democrat); Phil Hart who succeeded Riegle in 1976; Riegle’s 1976 Senate campaign; the Senate class if 1976; Riegle’s interactions with Ed Muskie; the attitude when Mitchell replaced Muskie; Mitchell’s rise to majority leader; Senator Byrd; George H.W. Bush’s presidency; Mitchell’s partisanship; Riegle and Mitchell’s big issues and crossover; the Banking Committee and the Finance Committee; Clinton’s presidency; the Keating Five; and McCain’s role in the Keating Five.

Date: 2010-04-29

Creator: Edward 'Ed' M Bonney

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Edward Mason “Ed” Bonney was born April 5, 1933, in Buckfield, Maine, and grew up in Lisbon Falls, Maine. His parents, Mason Turner and Beatrice Evelyn (Dean) Bonney, were Roosevelt Democrats. Ed served four years in the Air Force and later became an air traffic controller in New York for several years. He and his wife moved back to Maine to raise their family and became involved in Maine Democratic politics. Ed served as chair of the Cumberland County Democratic Committee, where he first met George Mitchell, and later was executive director of the Maine Democratic Party when Mitchell was state chair. He served as executive director of the Maine State Bar Association for twenty-five years.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; WWII recollections; work as an air traffic controller; John F. Kennedy; involvement in Democratic politics in Maine; Mitchell’s time as chair of the Maine Democratic Party; Ken Curtis; description of George Mitchell in the late ‘60s; Severin Beliveau; Democratic National Convention (1968); Maine State Bar Association and continuing legal education; descriptions of Ed Muskie and George Mitchell; driving Senator Mitchell; and changes to the Maine Democratic Party.

Date: 2008-12-08

Creator: Lee E Lockwood

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Lee Enfield Lockwood was born February 17, 1946, in Cumberland, Maryland, to Sarah and Sam Enfield. She grew up in Houston, Texas, attending a local public elementary school and a private high school. She was graduated from Duke University in 1968 with a major in political science. She moved to Washington, DC, and was hired onto Senator Muskie’s staff. She worked for Muskie from 1969 to 1978, first sorting and reading the mail and eventually handling speech writing and legislation. She worked for Senator Mitchell when he was majority leader, handling correspondence in his Senate office from 1989-1993.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; Muskie’s Senate office; Muskie’s 1972 presidential bid and working in the “boiler room” of that campaign; differences between Muskie and Mitchell related to the office environment; the process of handling the senators’ mail; Senator Mitchell’s relationship with his staff; the qualities that make a successful Senate staffer; what Mitchell will be remembered for; and the difference between academic discussion of politics and the interpersonal relationships that make it work.

Date: 2009-11-20

Creator: Kermit V Lipez

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Kermit Victor Lipez was born August 18, 1941, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Abraham Hyman Lipez and Beatrice (Mayerson) Lipez. He was graduated from Haverford College in 1963 and took his law degree from Yale Law School in 1967. In 1990, he obtained a master of laws degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He began his legal career in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Dept. of Justice (1967-1968) before serving as special assistant and legal counsel to Maine Governor Ken Curtis (1968-1971). From 1971 to 1972, he served as a legislative aide to Senator Edmund Muskie and then entered private practice as an attorney in Maine. From 1985 to 1994, he presided as a justice of the Maine Superior Court, and from 1994 to 1998 he sat on the Maine Supreme Court. Since 1998, he has served as a federal judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: family and educational background; early civil rights work; 1970 Maine gubernatorial election recount; Maine 1974 gubernatorial campaign; playing tennis; George Mitchell’s personal attributes; First Circuit Court of Appeals; Ken Curtis; Edmund S. Muskie’s staff.

Date: 2008-11-20

Creator: Charles 'Charlie' Jacobs

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Charles “Charlie” Jacobs was born on May 10, 1948, in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. His parents, Isabelle and Stephen Jacobs, were both teachers. He lived mainly in Buxton, Maine, until the age of ten, when his family moved to Bethel. He attended Gould Academy and the University of Maine, Orono, graduating in 1971. At Orono, Jacobs became politically active, joining the student government and supporting Eugene McCarthy’s presidential bid in 1968. After graduation, he worked for Governor Ken Curtis, serving on the Governor’s Council until it was abolished in 1976. He then worked on Senator Muskie’s 1976 Senate campaign, joining the Muskie’s Senate staff shortly thereafter. He stayed in Washington until 1979, when he moved to the Lewiston, Maine, Senate office. When George Mitchell was appointed to Muskie’s seat, Jacobs returned to Washington to serve as Mitchell’s executive assistant, where he remained until late 1983 when he transitioned back to Maine, leaving Mitchell’s employment in the spring of 1984. He later worked for the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for eleven years and for Maine Governor Angus King.

Summary

Interview includes discussions of: Mitchell’s transition to the Senate; the role of a senator’s executive assistant; Mitchell’s U.S. Senate campaign in 1982; comparing Mitchell with Muskie in terms of personality, office structure, and political talent; the disadvantages of being a junior senator; the Senate office’s organization and small dimension; how Mitchell worked to gain support within the Maine Democratic Party; getting Mitchell back to Maine on the weekends; developments of the 1982 Senate campaign; Mitchell’s jokes; the Elizabeth Taylor joke; Mitchell’s ad campaign beginning in 1981; the likability factor for politicians; Jacobs’s personal relationship with Mitchell; driving for Ed Muskie; Mitchell’s abilities in terms of patience, discipline, and teaching himself about politics; and the honorable tradition of Maine politics.

Date: 2008-11-17

Creator: Leon G. Billings

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

Leon Billings was born in Helena, Montana, on November 19, 1937. His parents, Harry and Gretchen Billings, were progressive journalists. He was graduated from high school in Helena, Montana, in 1955 and then attended Reed College for one year in Portland, Oregon. He completed his undergraduate studies and took graduate courses toward an M.A. at the University of Montana. Billings worked as a reporter and organizer for farm groups in Montana and California. He met his first wife, Pat, in California; they married in Montana and moved to Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1963. While in Washington, Billings worked for the American Public Power Association for three years as a lobbyist. In March 1966, he accepted a job on the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution on the Public Works Committee. He worked for Sen. Edmund Muskie helping to coordinate work on environmental policy. From 1966 to 1978, he served as Muskie’s chief of staff. He served on the Democratic Platform Committee staff in 1968 and in 1974 was co-chairman of a Democratic National Committee task force on Energy and the Environment. He later served as president of the Edmund S. Muskie Foundation, a tax-exempt foundation endowed with an appropriation from Congress to perpetuate the environmental legacy of Senator Muskie. Leon Billings passed away on November 15, 2016.

Summary

Interview includes discussion of: Edmund S. Muskie's political career and vice-presidential campaign (1968); Mitchell's 1974 Maine gubernatorial campaign (1974) and his U.S. Senate appointment (1980); environmental legislation; personal comparisons between Muskie and Mitchell and comparisons of their respective administrative offices; and Mitchell's decision to retire from the U.S. Senate.

Date: 2009-03-12

Creator: William 'Bill' S Cohen

Access: Open access

Biographial Note

William S. Cohen was born on August 28, 1940, in Bangor, Maine, to Reuben and Clara Cohen. He attended Bangor High School and was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1962 with a major in Latin. He earned his law degree at Boston University School of Law in 1965. He worked at a law firm in Bangor, eventually becoming a partner. He served on the Bangor City Council and was mayor of Bangor from 1961 to 1962. In 1972, Cohen was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was a member of the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate hearings. He was elected to the Senate in 1978 after serving as a representative for three terms. He was reelected in 1984 and 1990. He served on the Iran-Contra Committee. After retiring from the Senate in 1997, he was appointed to serve as secretary of defense by President Clinton, a position he held until 2001. In 2001 he founded the Cohen Group, a consulting firm specializing in East Asian affairs. He has authored several books, both fiction and nonfiction, including Men of Zeal, which he co-authored with George J. Mitchell about the Iran-Contra affair.

Summary

Interview includes discussions of: Bowdoin College; Mitchell’s entry into politics; qualities that made Mitchell a successful senator; the working relationship between Cohen and Mitchell; Cohen’s and Muskie’s relationship; Muskie’s temper; Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; the cooperation among members of the Maine delegation in Congress; the Dickey-Lincoln Project; the Maine Indian Land Claims issue; the Maine Republican Party; cross-party values in Maine; the walk; Iran-Contra; Mitchell’s questioning of Oliver North; writing Men of Zeal and how the book tour upset Cohen’s Republican colleagues; the job of majority leader; how Senate Republicans viewed Mitchell; policies on which Cohen and Mitchell worked together; Mitchell’s decision to step down; Cohen’s decision to retire; becoming secretary of defense; the Cohen Group; Roll Call; The Singularity is Near and the health issues that interest Cohen today.