Diplomatic Rainmaker

While Mitchell’s service in the U.S. government was impressive in its own right, his most memorable achievements have come in the international sphere.

Mitchell, however, did not always seem destined to become a diplomatic mediator. In fact, at the time of his retirement from the Senate in 1995, he was rumored to be on the brink of becoming the new commissioner of Major League Baseball.

Instead, President Bill Clinton appointed Mitchell as his economic envoy to Northern Ireland, a cover for American involvement in peace talks desired by Irish republicans, but feared by both unionists and the British government.

But soon Mitchell was able to maneuver himself into the chairmanship of the all-party negotiations, winning praise from all sides for his courageous and impartial leadership of the talks.

After 22 months of arduous negotiation, Mitchell was able to force through the Good Friday Agreement, granting bipartisan home rule to Northern Ireland, and pointing the way towards paramilitary weapons decommissioning.

Mitchell’s devotion to bringing peace to the long-troubled area was apparent. From February 1995 to May 1998 he spent three days a week in Britain for negotiations, travelling back and forth to his legal job in Washington D.C. and his family in New York.

Even former British Prime Minister John Major, initially skeptical about the merits of American interference in the process, was won over by Mitchell.

“George Mitchell is a softly-spoken and patient man, widely respected in the U.S. Senate,” Major wrote in his autobiography. “He was well placed to persuade the [terrorists] to give up violence for good, and to commit themselves to the process of democracy.”

Unparalleled Patience

After his work in Northern Ireland, Mitchell has more recently attempted to revive the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians—although with less success.

Again commissioned by President Bill Clinton, Mitchell chaired the Sharm El-Sheikh fact-finding committee. Its findings, released on April 30 last year as the Mitchell Report, called for the renewal of talks and security cooperation between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, it urged Israel to freeze all growth in the settlements, in exchange for the Palestinian Authority’s condemnation and prevention of terrorist attacks on Israel.

Unlike in Northern Ireland, however, Mitchell was unable to kickstart a faltering peace process. In spite of using the same techniques he brought to bear in Northern Ireland—as he explained, “being patient and persevering, always understanding the motivation of all the participants”—Mitchell could not persuade both sides to come back to the negotiating table.

“The culture of peace, carefully nurtured over the previous decade has been completely shattered,” he said with regret. “In its place have come growing despair and a belief in the inevitability of violence.”

According to Rudman, who served on the Sharm El-Sheikh committee, the declining situation in the region has distressed the usually-successful Mitchell.