The former Democratic Senator from Maine and Senate majority leader, George Mitchell, surprised the political world when he decided not to run for re-election in 1994 after spending 14 years in the Senate.

Instead, he was thrown into the public spotlight when he agreed to chair the International Body on Decommissioning in Northern Ireland sponsored by President Clinton.

President Clinton previously selected him to act as his economic advisor on Ireland, and Mitchell was the organizer of the highly successful Irish Economic Conference in 1995 in Washington, which brought together Irish people and Americans of all persuasions. Mitchell’s grandparents came from Ireland, and he himself grew up in Maine. His involvement and interest in Irish affairs looks set to continue during the second Clinton administration.