This week, we sit down with former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, Known among his colleagues in the Senate as an honest leader and skillful legislative strategist, Mitchell was instrumental in negotiating a peace agreement in Northern Ireland and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Our conversation covered everything from Brexit to money in elections to nuclear negotiations on the Korean Peninsula. On the issue of Russian meddling in US elections, Mitchell blames both Obama and Trump for lacking a muscular response to Russian President Putin.
He has served on the Board of Directors for numerous companies, including Walt Disney Company. He was a director for DIS for 12 years, the last 4 year of his term serving as Chairman of Disney’s Board.
Mitchell disagrees with the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decisions, noting “Money is money and speech is speech and every 6th grader understands the differences.”
We discussed changes in immigration under the present administration. Be sure to stick around to towards the end of the interview to hear him tell a story about a person (not him) who he calls “the REAL George Mitchell,” an immigrant who has dramatically impacted the well being of the United States.
His favorite books are referenced here; our conversation transcript will be published here tomorrow.
You can stream/download the full conversation, including the podcast extras on iTunes, Bloomberg, Overcast, and Stitcher. Our earlier podcasts can all be found on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, and Bloomberg.
Next week, we speak with Dr. Raife Giovinazzo, who manages Fuller & Thaler’s Behavioral Small Cap Equity strategy.
George Mitchell’s Books
Making Peace by George Mitchell
The Negotiator: A Memoir. by George Mitchell
A Path to Peace: A Brief History of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and a Way Forward in the Middle East. by George Mitchell
George Mitchell’s Favorite Books
The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
The Bounty Trilogy: Comprising the Three Volumes (Mutiny on the Bounty, Men against the Sea, & Pitcairn’s Island) by Charles Nordhoff
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
The Lessons of History by Will Durant and Ariel Durant
John Adams by Page Smith
Trial by Fire: A People’s History of the Civil War and Reconstruction by Page Smith
The Rise of Industrial America: A People’s History of the Post-Reconstruction Era by Page Smith
