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Fifteen minutes before five o'clock on Good Friday 1998, Senator George Mitchell was informed that his long and difficult quest for an Irish peace effort had succeeded -- the Protestants and Catholics of Northern Ireland, and the governments of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, would sign the agreement. Now Mitchell, who served as independent chairman of the peace talks for the length of the process, tells us the inside story of the grueling road to this momentous accord and the subsequent developments that may threaten, or strengthen, the chance for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.

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Making Peace

University of California Press

Excerpt

Although I didn't realize it at the time, my journey to Northern Ireland beganin December 1982, when I decided that I would limit the time of my service inthe United States Senate. I had been appointed to the Senate in May 1980 tocomplete the unexpired term of Edmund Muskie, who resigned to become secretaryof state. His Senate term continued through 1982, giving me two and a half yearsto demonstrate to the people of Maine that I deserved election in my own rightto a full six-year term. As it turned out, I needed every bit of that time.

Appointed senators rarely win election on their own, and it looked as though Iwould continue that tradition. Throughout 1980 and 1981, Maine's two members ofthe House of Representatives, both Republicans, jockeyed for position in whatwas widely perceived as the sure thing of defeating me. In May 1981 one of them,David Emery, released a public opinion poll which showed him trouncing me by 61percent to 25 percent?a thirty-six-point spread. Not to be outdone, the otherHouse member, Olympia Snowe, announced a poll which had her ahead of me bythirty-three points. Kenneth Curtis, a former governor, then stated that he wasconsidering running against me in the Democratic primary. He cited yet anotherpoll, showing him leading by twenty-two points.

Publication of the polls produced the intended and predictable result: anavalanche of negative news reports and a growing uneasiness among Democratsabout the viability of my candidacy. I had been working hard for a year, but theonly response to my political problems I could devise was to work even harder.

I had been traveling around the state, speaking at service clubs and highschools and going to bean suppers. But these were random appearances, usually inresponse to invitations I received. I now began a systematic effort to visitevery service club, high school, hospital, grange hall, senior citizens center,and manufacturing facility in the state. Instead of eight to ten public eventseach weekend I attended twelve to fifteen. I also increased the time I devotedto researching and studying each issue on which the Senate voted.

It was an extremely difficult year. I was usually tired, often discouraged,always anxious. But I never felt that my situation was hopeless; I never lostfaith in myself or my principles.

Over time, my prospects improved. Curtis decided, for health reasons, not toseek the nomination. Snowe deferred to Emery and withdrew from consideration. Itwas then Emery's bad luck that the incumbent Republican administration, andthose candidates associated with it, were held responsible for the worseningeconomy. Late in the campaign the tide turned decisively in my favor. In theelection I received 61 percent of the votes.

Among the lessons I learned from this experience were the importance of having aplan and sticking to it while retaining the flexibility to make adjustments ascircumstances change; the necessity of total commitment; and the need forpatience and perseverance to overcome the inevitable setbacks. These are notbrilliant insights, but rather the kind of common sense that is oftenoverwhelmed by panic at the first sign of adversity.

Shortly after the election I began to think seriously about my future in theSenate. I had seen many senators become totally consumed by the institution. Inow realized that I had become one of them. I worked seven days a week, twelveto fourteen hours a day. My marriage suffered, my other interests atrophied.Since I had just received a sizeable majority of the vote after serving as anappointed senator for less than a full term, I was confident that with a fullterm I could establish myself so solidly that I could win re-election in thefuture. (My analysis was correct. In 1988 I received 81 percent of the vote, thehighest percentage ever achieved by a candidate in a contested statewideelection in Maine history.) But the more I thought about it, the more deeply Ifelt that I should not try to make the Senate a lifetime career. On ChristmasDay, 1982, I decided to term-limit myself. It was a private decision. I kept itto myself for eleven years.

Just after Christmas in 1993, I decided that the time had come to leave theSenate. In late February 1994 I notified my staff and asked them to makepreparations for a public announcement. March 5 was chosen as the date, Portlandas the place.

On the morning of March 4, I videotaped a five-minute statement to be broadcastthroughout Maine the next day. Although I ordinarily could do tapes on the firsttry, I needed three takes for this one. I found, to my surprise, that it washard to say the words now, when it really counted, as opposed to when I had beenjust thinking about it. The final tape was barely acceptable, definitely not oneof my best efforts.

That evening I went to the White House. By coincidence I had been invited toattend a small dinner in the First Family's living quarters, and I sat next toPresident Clinton. Near the end of the dinner I asked if I could speak to himprivately for a few minutes. He suggested I join him in his study, where wetalked for two and a half hours. The president was obviously surprised when Itold him of my plans. He first tried to get me to change my mind. During theconversation he asked me, "If in the future something comes up where I think youcan be of assistance, would you be willing to help? Or are you just turned offof politics?" I told him that I was not turned off, that I loved public service,and that I would be happy to help on anything he thought was important. Hedidn't mention Northern Ireland, and it never crossed my mind. But on thatevening, without realizing it, I took the second step on my journey to NorthernIreland.

On November 1 President Clinton issued a statement on Northern Ireland. It waspart of a continuing process under which, for the first time, the problems therewere given a high priority by an American administration. In the statement heannounced his intention to sponsor a White House Conference on Trade andInvestment in Northern Ireland. It was to be part of a strategy to support theeffort to bring peace to that troubled land by encouraging economic growth andjob creation.

In early December I was asked by a member of the White House staff if I wouldundertake a diplomatic mission on behalf of the president. When I asked what itwould involve, he said it would require all my time. I told him that wasn'tpossible. I was to be married on December 10 and was planning to return toprivate life. I was interested in doing something involving public policy, but Iwasn't interested in anything that was a full-time job.

Later, I was shown the president's November 1 statement on Northern Ireland andwas asked if I had any interest in getting involved there. Although I had neverbeen to Northern Ireland, I was generally aware of the situation. I asked, "Isthe president planning to appoint an envoy to Northern Ireland?" Not an envoy, Iwas told, because that was a sensitive subject with the British government. "Buthe does want someone to put together a trade conference in Washington in thespring. That would take just a few days of your time. Would you do it?" I said Iwould think about it and get back to him. I talked with friends at the StateDepartment and on the National Security Council staff at the White House. I alsodiscussed it with Heather. The task seemed interesting and undemanding, and itwould be over in a few months, so later I called back and said I would take iton. I had taken the third step on...