Rivlin once described herself as, ” a professional critic of wishful thinking”. This critic of wishful thinking characteristic was an ideal trait for someone in charge of governmental purse strings; a perfect attribute for a budget official. Georgianna Alice Mitchell began life on March 4, 1931 in Philadelphia. She spent her childhood years primarily in Bloomington, Indiana. Her father, Allan C.G. Mitchell, was a physicist who helped develop the Atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. Her mother, Georgianna (Fales) Mitchell, was a national officer of The League of Women Voters. Alice was a Havard graduate and recipient of the Brookings fellowship. Her Ph.D dissertation was on Projecting Demographic…