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" My father was the orphaned son of immigrants to the United States from Ireland. My father never knew his parents. His mother died - we're not sure - either at or shortly after his birth, and he and all of his siblings were placed in orphanages in the Boston area. "

George J. Mitchell

Father

Mother

Boston

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" So my father grew up in an orphanage in Boston. He was then adopted by an elderly childless couple from Maine, who gave him the name of Mitchell. He moved to Maine, and there he met my mother and was married. "

" So I developed very early a massive inferiority complex, and I've told the story often about how that inspired me later in life to get involved in other things, because I couldn't out-do my brothers in sports, and it's a very competitive relationship. "

George J. Mitchell

Story

Life

" From my parents, I learned a very strong work ethic, and all of my brothers and sisters all worked from the earliest days of life right through to the present time. "

" Although he's regularly asked to do so, God does not take sides in American politics. "

" I enjoyed practicing law. "

" In every society in human history, including the United States, those in power seek to imbue themselves with the attributes of religion and patriotism as a way of getting greater support for their policy and insulating themselves from any criticism. "

" My mother was an immigrant from Lebanon to the United States. She came when she was 18 years old in 1920. "

" My parents were very poor, but we never felt any sense of need or want. It was a very close, loving, tightly-knit family growing up, and I never felt any sense of deprivation or anything like that. "

" I was the United States Attorney for Maine for three years, and then was appointed a federal judge. "

" I had been involved in U.S. intelligence in Berlin, Germany, while in the military and had worked with a contact with the Central Intelligence Agency office there. "

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" First, the American legislative process isn't well suited to large and complex measures. "

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" In the spring of 1994 I decided not to seek reelection to the Senate. I had made the decision 12 years earlier, Christmas Day of 1982, just after I had been first elected to a full term, that I would do the best I could for a limited time. "

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" I had a great interest in sports. I had three older brothers who were great athletes. I was not. "