Interview with Janet Dennis by Andrea L’Hommedieu
Biographial Note
Janet Mary Dennis was born on September 5, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Clemenza Rowlandson Sullivan and William Aloysius Sullivan. Her father was a postal inspector and her mother was a parochial schoolteacher. Janet grew up in Waterville, Maine, and was the youngest of five children. She attended Thomas College. In May of 1965, she spent a year as Senator Muskie’s secretary in Washington, D.C., and then became the office manager in Muskie’s Waterville and Augusta state Senate offices. She also did work for the Senate Public Works Committee on the Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution under Leon Billings until May of 1970. She worked with George Mitchell on Muskie’s 1970 U.S. Senate reelection campaign. In 1980, when Mitchell was appointed to Muskie’s Senate seat, she remained on staff working in the Waterville state Senate office. Janet’s sister graduated in the same high school class as George Mitchell’s sister, Barbara.
Summary
Interview includes discussions of: family and educational background; Waterville community; working for Muskie and Mitchell; Mitchell’s personality and intellectual capacity; comparison between Mitchell and Muskie; Muskie’s 1972 presidential campaign; Mitchell’s Waterville office; Muskie’s 1970 Senate campaign; and Colby College.