George Mitchell Biography
Those who are interested in American politics would have definitely heard the name of George Mitchell. He is the former Special Envoy for Peace for the Middle East. He is a Democrat and was the Senate majority leader from 1989 right until 1995. He even held the position of chairman for The Walt Disney Company from 2004 until the beginning of 2007. Another feather in Mitchell's cap is that he was the main investigator in the use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball. |
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George Mitchell was born George John Mitchell, Jr. on 20 August 1933 to George John Mitchell, Sr. and Mary. Mitchell's father was adopted by a Lebanese family, as he was an orphan and he worked as a janitor in Colby College in Waterville. His mother was a worker in a textile company, and was also of Lebanese origin. She had immigrated to the US when she was 18 years old. Mitchell was Maronite Catholic and was an altar boy at his church. While he was studying in junior high school and high school, Mitchell supplemented the family's income by working as a janitor. He had five siblings, and three of his brothers were excellent athletes. While Mitchell was extremely good in his studies, his achievements were often overshadowed by his brothers' athletic performances.
Mitchell was 16 years old when he finished high school. Thereafter, he went to Bowdoin College located in Brunswick, Maine. In college, he worked several jobs to pay for his tuition. After graduating in 1954, he wanted to go to graduate school and then become a teacher. Instead, Mitchell joined the US army, where he worked from 1954 until 1956. He was a First Lieutenant when he left the army. He then went to Georgetown University of Law Center, making use of their part time program to get his law degree.
After earning his law degree, Mitchell became a trial attorney for the US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. He worked here from 1960 until 1962, and then went on to become the executive assistant to Edmund S Muskie, a senator. He held this position from 1962 until 1965. It is during this tenure that he got interested in politics. After this, Mitchell relocated to Portland, Maine to practice law. He stayed here from 1965 to 1977. In 1971, he was also the assistant county attorney at Cumberland County.
He then won the Democratic nomination to stand for election as governor of Maine. Although Mitchell lost the elections, he was appointed as the US attorney for Maine by the then president, Jimmy Carter. He held this position from 1977 until 1979. Thereafter, he was appointed as judge for the US District Court in Maine. He stayed a judge till he was appointed to the Senate in the year 1980 on resignation of Edmund Muskie. This started Mitchell's long journey in politics.
When Barack Obama became the president, he and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, appointed Mitchell as the Special Envoy for the Middle East peace process in 2009. He held this position until May 2011.
Mitchell and his wife Sally were married for 26 years before deciding to divorce in 1987. He has one daughter named Andrea from this marriage. In 1994, it was disclosed that Mitchell had got engaged to Heather MacLachlan, and the couple got married in the same year in December. They have a son together.
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Wikipedia: George J Mitchell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_J._Mitchell
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John Murtha, an American politician, was born John Patrick Murtha, Jr. on 17 June 1932. He was from an Irish American family living in New Martinsville, West Virginia, which is along the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, Murtha grew up in Westmoreland County of Pennsylvania. As a youngster, he was an Eagle Scout and also earned his money by delivering newspaper and picking papinkis. Before he graduated from The Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, he used to work in a gas station. After high school, Murtha joined the Washington and Jefferson College. 