George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

Search for information on the U.S. Senate in Bowdoin Library's online catalog:

United States Congress Senate

U.S. Senate, 1950-1994 [bulk 1980-1994].

988.5 linear feet.

Catalog Number: M202.6

Background Note:
In May of 1980 Maine Governor Joseph Brennan appointed George Mitchell to fill Edmund S. Muskie's Senate seat, vacated when President Jimmy Carter appointed Muskie U.S. Secretary of State. In 1982, Mitchell won reelection with sixty-one percent of the vote. After the congressional elections in 1984 he was voted chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). In 1986, during Mitchell's committee chairmanship, the Democrats won eleven seats and a majority in the Senate. In 1987 Mitchell was appointed a member of the Select Committee on Iran-Contra. Mitchell won his second reelection campaign with eighty-one percent of the vote in 1988. Mitchell's performance on the Iran-Contra committee and his success as DSCC chairman allowed him to develop a broad base of confidence and support from the Senate as a whole, and Senate Democrats in particular, in a relatively short period of time. This enabled him to capture his party's nomination for Senate majority leader. Mitchell also served as a member of the Finance Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and the Governmental Affairs Committee. In early 1994 Mitchell announced that he would not run for another term after the completion of his second full term in January, 1995.

Mitchell's Senate office was organized in four basic functions: administrative operations; legislative activities; constituent services; and press and media activities.

Description:
Records in this group include memos, notes, correspondence, schedules, reports, bills, hearing transcripts, press releases, press clippings, audio and video tapes, memorabilia, photographs, financial records, and computer files. The largest series of records consists of legislative records (492.5 linear feet) and was produced by legislative aides. These records document the major work of the senator's office.

Significant legislative events include the authorization of the Maine Indian Lands Claim settlement of 1980; the Clean Water Act of 1987 and Clean Air Act of 1990; the Iran-Contra affair in 1986-1987; health care initiatives of 1991 and 1993-1994.

Access Restrictions: Restriction details listed in the sub-series notes.