George J. Mitchell

George Mitchell
Mitchell in 1980
United States Special Envoy for Middle East Peace
In office January 22, 2009 – May 13, 2011
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Anthony Zinni (2003)
Succeeded by	David Hale
Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission
In office November 27, 2002 – December 11, 2002[1]
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Lee Hamilton
8th Chancellor of the Queen's University, Belfast
In office May 5, 1999 – March 29, 2009
Preceded by	David Orr
Succeeded by	Kamalesh Sharma
United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland
In office January 3, 1995 – January 20, 2001
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Richard N. Haass
Senate Majority Leader
In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995
Deputy	Alan Cranston Wendell Ford
Preceded by	Robert Byrd
Succeeded by	Bob Dole
Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus
In office January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Robert Byrd
Succeeded by	Tom Daschle
Deputy President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1989
President	John C. Stennis
Preceded by	Hubert Humphrey (1978)
Succeeded by	Vacant
United States Senator from Maine
In office May 17, 1980 – January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Edmund Muskie
Succeeded by	Olympia Snowe
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine
In office October 5, 1979 – May 16, 1980
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	Conrad K. Cyr
United States Attorney for the District of Maine
In office 1977–1979
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	S. Peter Mills Jr.
Succeeded by	James Brannigan
Personal details
Born	George John Mitchell Jr. (1933-08-20) August 20, 1933 (age 91) Waterville, Maine, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Sally Heath ​ ​ (m. 1961; div. 1987)​ Heather MacLachlan ​ (m. 1994)​
Children	3
Education	Bowdoin College (BA) Georgetown University (LLB)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1954–1956
Rank	First Lieutenant
Unit	Counterintelligence Corps
George J. Mitchell's voice George J. Mitchell urges the George H. W. Bush administration to take a stronger lead on climate change Recorded February 18, 1992

George John Mitchell Jr. (born August 20, 1933)^[2] is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A leading member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995, and as Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995. After retiring from the Senate, Mitchell played a leading role in negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland and the Middle East. He was appointed United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland (1995–2001) by President Clinton and as United States Special Envoy for Middle East Peace (2009–2011) by President Barack Obama.

Mitchell was a primary architect of the 1996 Mitchell Principles and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and was the main investigator in two "Mitchell Reports": one on the Arab–Israeli conflict (2001); and one on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball (2007).

Mitchell served as chairman of the Walt Disney Company from 2004 until 2007, and later as chairman of the international law firm DLA Piper. He was the Chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1999 to 2009. Mitchell also has served as a co-chair of the Housing Commission at the Bipartisan Policy Center.^[3] He is one of the few people in modern times to have served in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government.