I had a great interest in sports. I had three older brothers who were great athletes. I was not.

When I went to college, my goal was to be a college history teacher. I majored in history.

I was the United States Attorney for Maine for three years, and then was appointed a federal judge.

I had been involved in U.S. intelligence in Berlin, Germany, while in the military and had worked with a contact with the Central Intelligence Agency office there.

First, the American legislative process isn't well suited to large and complex measures.

I'm glad I made the decision, although the practice of law - and particularly serving as a federal judge - was a part of my life that I really enjoyed and treasured and look back on it with fondness.

So my father grew up in an orphanage in Boston. He was then adopted by an elderly childless couple from Maine, who gave him the name of Mitchell. He moved to Maine, and there he met my mother and was married.