Kansas City, Mo. ? Former Sen. George J. Mitchell, who led negotiations that resulted in the 1998 peace accord in Northern Ireland, was named Thursday as the latest recipient of the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award.

Mitchell will receive the award May 8, the 123rd anniversary of the late president’s birth.

The award bearing Truman’s name has been given annually since 1973 by the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation.

“Senator Mitchell was selected to receive our award not only because of his service to the United States, but also his deep involvement in international peace efforts, which exemplifies the spirit and high principles of President Truman,” said Karl Zobrist, the foundation’s president.

Mitchell represented Maine in the Senate from 1980 to 1985 and served six years as Senate Majority Leader. In 1996, he was asked by the governments of the United Kingdom and Ireland to lead peace negotiations in Northern Ireland.

He is the first former politician to receive the Good Neighbor Award since Bob Dole, the longtime senator from Kansas, in 2001. Other recipients have included former President Gerald Ford, journalist Walter Cronkite and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.