BY DENNIS HOEY

Portland Press Herald

WASHINGTON -- Waterville native and Bowdoin College graduate George J. Mitchell has never backed away from a challenge, no matter how daunting the task might be.

The former U.S. Senate majority leader was handed a huge assignment Thursday by President Barack Obama -- bring peace and stability to the Middle East through diplomatic means.

On just his second day in office, Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden joined newly appointed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the State Department to announce the appointment of Mitchell as special envoy to the Middle East.

"It's an honor to serve my country," the 75-year-old Mitchell said Thursday night, during a brief telephone interview. "When the President of the United States asks you to do something, you respond. I just hope I can help."

Mitchell said he lives in New York, but still maintains a summer home in Seal Harbor.

Mitchell was born and raised in Waterville. He is a 1954 graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

He and his wife, Heather, have three children -- his adult daughter, Andrea, lives in South Portland. Mitchell's younger children, Andrew, 11, and Claire, 8, attend schools in New York.

Mitchell, who has been chairman of the DLA Piper law firm in Washington, D.C., said he will be stepping down to assume a full-time role as Middle East envoy.

Mitchell declined to go into specifics about his role or mission.

Thursday's announcement came during a late afternoon gathering of more than 300 guests and State Department employees in the State Department building.

"I don't underestimate the difficulty of this assignment. The situation in the Middle East is volatile, complex and dangerous. But the President and the Secretary of State have made it clear that danger and difficulty can not cause the United States to turn away," Mitchell told the audience.

Obama selected Mitchell to broker peace in the Middle East and former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke to serve as envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Vice President Biden introduced Mitchell and Holbrooke as, "two very powerful weapons in our diplomatic arsenal."

During his remarks, Mitchell said he believes that achieving peace in the Middle East is possible.

He negotiated peace in Northern Ireland and led the investigation into steroid use by Major League Baseball players.

Mitchell, referring to his experience in Northern Ireland, which led to the 1998 Good Friday agreement, said, "I formed the conviction that there is no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended. Conflicts are created, conducted and sustained by human beings; they can be ended by human beings."

Maine's Congressional delegation was offered front row seats to the event, but only Representatives Chellie Pingree and Michael Michaud, both Democrats, could attend.

Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans, were called away by hearings and votes that took place in the Senate, according to their staffers.

"It was a great seat for watching history," Pingree said. "Even more impressive to me was that President Obama took the time to do this on just his second day in office."

Pingree said she has known Mitchell for years. He has attended fundraisers both for her and her daughter, Hannah.

"Here is a man who is revered around the world, but will take the time to show up for a local political gathering," Pingree said.

Pingree said Obama made the perfect choice. She said Mitchell is respected by Republicans and Democrats because they always found him to be fair.

"I just think that, at his age, and for someone who has achieved so much in his life, he is giving this country a great gift," Pingree said.

Michaud was equally impressed with the president's selection. He said achieving peace in Northern Ireland was an objective many thought impossible.

Michaud said President Obama has set the stage for a new way of dealing with the world, one that relies more on diplomacy than military action.

"Diplomacy, quite frankly, has been sorely missing for the past eight years. It has been an attitude of my way or the highway," Michaud said.

Sens. Snowe and Collins' offices issued statements.

Snowe said Mitchell has distinguished himself as a true statesman and exceptional public servant.

"Senator Mitchell has graced the world stage on matters of global significance, he has done so using his hallmark facility for skilled diplomacy and deft negotiation," Snowe said. "I firmly believe that at this consequential time of heightened tensions in the Holy Land, there is no person more aptly qualified and crucially needed for this role than Senator George Mitchell."

Collins said she is "delighted" with Mitchell's appointment.

"Senator Mitchell's record as a peacemaker and statesman is impressive. He chaired the International Fact Finding Committee on violence in the Middle East, and as we saw in Northern Ireland, Senator Mitchell possesses the ability to bring both sides of a centurire-old conflict together to find accord and, ultimately, peace. His appointment sends a hopeful signal to the people of the region," said a statement from Sen. Collins' office.