Indiana's Hidden History: A Series of Articles by HE -- Gov. Mitch Daniels' Family, His Princeton Years, and a Defining Turning Point -- Arrested

See you and call...

Mitch Daniels was born in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, and moved with his family to Indianapolis in 1959 when his father, Mitchell Elias Daniels Sr. (1923–2004), accepted a position with the pharmaceutical company Pittman-Moore.

Daniels Sr., the son of Syrian immigrants, raised his family in Indiana, where Mitch attended North Central High School. An outstanding student, student body president, and Indiana Presidential Scholar in 1967, Daniels earned admission to Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, graduating with an A.B. in 1971.

While at Princeton, Daniels was a member of the American Whig–Cliosophic Society (Whig-Clio), one of the nation's oldest collegiate debating and literary societies. Founded in the 1760s, Whig-Clio has counted among its members numerous governors, senators, judges, diplomats, and public officials. Although prestigious and rich in tradition, it is not a secret society, and there is no public evidence that Daniels belonged to any of Princeton's secret senior societies or similar organizations.

After Mitch Daniels was arrested, indicted and convicted on charges of drug possession as an undergraduate in May 1970, he said that he thought his aspiring political career was doomed. “Any goal I might have had for competing for public office were shot,” he told The Daily Princetonian in September 1988. https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2011/02/at-princeton-daniels-71-marked-by-drug-arrest-contradictions

Daniels and two roommates, Marc Stuart and Richard Stockton_, were arrested on charges including possession of marijuana, possession of LSD, possession of prescription drugs without a

prescription, and maintaining a common nuisance.

Sounds like a guy ideal for President of Purdue University, or guy serving as governor of a state where marijuana remained illegal. Despite his apparent academic success graduating from Princeton University, his classmates said that Daniels spent more time at the poker table in Charter Club, of which he was a member, than in the library....

The more serious drug charges were later dismissed as part of his plea agreement. Daniels pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor offense of "maintaining a common nuisance," and no felony drug charge, paid a $350 fine, and did not serve jail time.

Rather than deny the incident, Daniels has publicly that he accepted responsibility for his actions, calling it a "lesson." Reflecting on the arrest years later, he wrote:

"For a time, I was a carefree consumer." - Daniels

He described the episode as "the unfortunate confluence of my wild oats period and America's libertine apogee."

In a 2011 interview with The Daily Princetonian, Daniels added:

"I don't make excuses for anything. Justice was served. I had used marijuana and I was fined for that, and that was appropriate." - Daniels

Daniels also said he believed the arrest had effectively ended any realistic chance of a future political career. Instead, after graduating from Princeton, he entered public service, eventually becoming chief of staff to Senator Richard Lugar, Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush, Governor of Indiana, and later President of Purdue University. He appointed some of Indiana's weakest judges and judges in the history of the state, not ever wanting competent people serving in the third branch of government, by his own admissions.

In 2021, Andrew Straw filed an Attorney Disciplinary Complaint against Daniels for comments he called racists. His law license is listed as "inactive in good standing" rather than "Active and in good standing," a unique status and for him on the Indiana roll of attorneys for Attorney number: 11401-98. Shortly thereafter, Daniels stepped down as president but still hold his Indiana law license in good standing with "no history of discipline." How fair is any of this? Others had their Indiana law license taken and forfeited for drug or criminal charges while in colleges, but then again he appointed Loretta Rush.

Also, the lawyers who lied on applications can be distinquished form him, comparing their cases to Attorney Mitch Daniels, there are an important distinctions:

• Daniels' Princeton arrest occurred before law school when Police raided his dorm room in Cuyler Hall at Princiton and found cache of hard illegal drugs.

• He was later admitted to the Indiana bar after completing law school.

• HE did not found any public evidence that he failed to disclose his crimes and arrest during the bar admission process.

• Without evidence of nondisclosure by Daniels on his own application to the state of Indiana when seeking admission, it would not be appropriate to compare his situation to cases involving applicants who concealed prior misconduct. But the question remains, did he?

Deborah Daniels, Esq.

His sister, Deborah Daniels, also built a distinguished legal career. She graduated with honors from DePauw University before earning her law degree, cum laude, from the Indiana University School of Law, later serving as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana and in senior leadership positions within the U.S. Department of Justice, and serving as the first female director at a powerful Indianapolis law firm.

Sources: Mitch Daniels public biographies; The Daily Princetonian (2011); public court records and contemporaneous news reports.