Justice & Law Quote by George J. Mitchell

There is a particular kind of political sentence that doubles as a goodbye note and a résumé line, and George J. Mitchell’s does it with surgeonlike care. “I’m glad I made the decision” leads with closure and self-command: the pivot point is framed as deliberate, not forced. That matters for a public figure whose authority depends on seeming guided by judgment rather than ambition or circumstance.

Then comes the softening. Mitchell doesn’t trash what he left. He elevates it. “The practice of law - and particularly serving as a federal judge -” isn’t just nostalgia; it’s credential signaling. He’s reminding you that before the legislative arena’s horse-trading, he occupied a role coded as impartial, sober, and principled. In American civic mythology, “federal judge” functions like a moral character reference. By foregrounding enjoyment and “treasured,” he rebrands career change as sacrifice rather than escape.

The phrase “look back on it with fondness” is almost aggressively non-combative. It’s an inoculation against the suspicion that politics is a step down from jurisprudence, or that leaving the bench implies restlessness. Mitchell’s intent reads as reassurance: he didn’t abandon seriousness; he carried it with him. Subtext: the values associated with judging - restraint, evidence, balance - are being imported into his political identity.

Contextually, it fits Mitchell’s broader public posture as a consensus-builder: the man who wants history to remember him as reluctant, careful, and service-minded, even when he chose power.