George Mitchell

George Mitchell served as US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace from January 2009 to May 2011.

He previously served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995. He was Chairman of The Walt Disney Company from 2004 to 2007, and was Chairman of the international law firm DLA Piper.

George entered the US Senate in 1980 when he was appointed to complete the unexpired term of Senator Edmund S. Muskie, who resigned to become secretary of state. Before the 1982 election, George trailed in opinion polls by 36 points. His stunning come-from-behind victory gave him 61 percent of the votes cast. He went on to an illustrious career in the Senate that spanned 14 years.

In 1988, he was re-elected with 81 percent of the vote, the largest margin in Maine history. In 1989, he became Senate majority leader. He held that position until he left the Senate in 1995. During his tenure, George earned enormous bipartisan respect. It has been said "there is not a man, woman or child in the Capitol who does not trust George Mitchell". For six consecutive years he was voted "the most respected member" of the Senate by a bipartisan group of senior congressional aides.

In 1996, the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland asked George to chair the peace negotiations in Northern Ireland. He led the negotiations for two years, work that ultimately resulted in a historic accord that ended decades of conflict. In 1998, the agreement was overwhelmingly endorsed by voters in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

Senator Mitchell has served as Chairman of the board of the Walt Disney Company and was on the boards of several other major corporations. From 2006 to 2007, he chaired an independent investigation into the illegal use of performance enhancing substances in Major League Baseball.

He served as chairman of the International Crisis Group, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the prevention of crises in international affairs, as chairman of the Special Commission investigating allegations of impropriety in the bidding process for the Olympic Games, and as chairman of the National Health Care Commission. Working on a pro bono basis, George was the independent overseer of the American Red Cross Liberty Disaster Relief Fund, an organisation formed to help victims of the 9/11 attacks.

At the request of President Bill Clinton and Israeli and Palestinian leaders, George served as chairman of an international fact-finding committee on violence in the Middle East. The committee's recommendation, widely known as The Mitchell Report, was endorsed by the Bush Administration, the European Union, and many other governments.

George is the author of four books: Men of Zeal, co-authored with his colleague, William S. Cohen, on the Iran-Contra investigation; World on Fire, speaking to the threat of the greenhouse effect and recommending steps to curb it; Not For America Alone: The Triumph of Democracy and The Fall of Communism; and Making Peace, an account of his experiences in Northern Ireland.