When I was a young staffer working on Capitol Hill in D.C., as an aide to a congressman who served on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, I was recommended by a colleague to interview for a position on Sen. Bob Dole’s staff. I was excited to meet him and practiced for a few days how to reach for his left hand, using my left, to greet him.
With that encounter successfully maneuvered, he began to ask me questions about my background. He knew where I had worked on the Hill, so he asked about college. “You went to Stanford, I see,” he said. “And what did you study there?” “I majored in Art History,” I responded. “And you want to do tax policy on my staff?” he huffed. Interview over. I guess I should have practiced more than the handshake. Regardless, Bob Dole was the kind of Republican we wish we had more of these days.
Kate Miller
Meredith