Play of the Day! 05/23/12

Play of the Day!

Obama's Wake Up Call

Florida Capitol

STATES

QUIZ: Guess the Capitol

Clintons

White House

Medal of Freedom Honorees

Jim Morin: GOP and Greece

Political Humor

Morin's Animated World

CONGRESS

PICTURES: The Odd Jobs of Hill Staffers

Neil D'Cruze/Flickr

Galen Fountain: Although Fountain spends most of his time as the majority clerk to the Senate Appropriations' Agriculture Subcommittee, he and his family also raise Icelandic sheep on a farm in the Blue Ridge mountains.

By Chris Heller

Updated: July 20, 2011 | 10:05 a.m.
July 18, 2011 | 4:12 p.m.

Though you wouldn't know it by looking at them, many of the 319 congressional staffers profiled in NJ's Hill People 2011 had interesting jobs before arriving at the Capitol. (And some of them still do.) In this gallery, we take a look at their strangest, most intriguing jobs.

(RELATED: Where Hill People Go To College | Hill Staffers Under 30 to Watch | 12 Things You Might Not Know About Key Hill Leadership Aides | 14 Powerful Women on the Hill | Hill People: Who Are They and Where Did They Come From?)

Capitol Hill offices and other subscribers can view more than 300 profiles of Hill aides and staffers at nationaljournal.com/hillpeople.

PICTURES: The Odd Jobs of Hill Staffers

<p><strong>Galen Fountain:</strong> Although Fountain spends most of his time as the majority clerk to the Senate Appropriations' Agriculture Subcommittee, he and his family also raise Icelandic sheep on a farm in the Blue Ridge mountains. </p> - Neil D'Cruze/Flickr

<p><strong>Guy Cecil:</strong> The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staff director studied political science at the University of Florida, but didn't jump into politics immediately after graduating. Cecil's first job was as the minister of Northwest Baptist Church in Opa-Locka, Fla.</p> - Richard A. Bloom

<p><strong>Philip Barnett</strong>: Between years studying philosophy at Princeton, Barnett spent his summers leading monthlong trips at the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming. Coincidentally enough, he isn't the only minority House Energy and Commerce Committee staffer to work with NOLS -- Energy and Environment Staff Director Greg Dotson also led the outdoor adventures.</p> - Liz Lynch

<p><strong>Jon Summers: </strong>When the communications director for Senate Majority Leader <strong>Harry Reid</strong>, D-Nev., jokes that he's "worked with sharks and snakes all my life," he's only half-kidding. After graduating from the University of Central Florida, Summers worked at Sea World in Orlando, Fla., and then took a job at the Phoenix Zoo.</p> - Matt Stroshane/Getty Images

<p><strong>John Stipicevic:</strong> While the floor director for House Majority Whip <strong>Kevin McCarthy</strong>, R-Calif., doesn't have much time for a round these days, he worked as a golf pro while enrolled at Catholic University.</p> - Chet Susslin

<p><strong>Paul Arcangeli:</strong> As a career military officer, Arcangeli worked mostly in "exposive-ordanance disposal" before joining the House Armed Services Committee as minority staff director in 2004. His experience spans from the Vietnam to Iraq wars, but don't ask him about <em>The Hurt Locker</em>, a film he derides as a "cartoon."</p> - Liz Lynch

<p><strong>David McCarthy: </strong>Believe it or not, the majority chief counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Environment and the Economy Subcommittee has another title -- wedding expert. In 2007, McCarthy penned <em>How to Have a Great Wedding</em>, a guide for anyone seeking a successful ceremony and marriage.</p> - epSos.de/Flickr

<p><em>CORRECTION:The original version of this post gave the incorrect job title for Doug Frantz. He is majority deputy staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.</em></p>
<p><strong>Doug Frantz: </strong>The majority deputy staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has a serious background in journalism, covering stories all over Europe, the Middle East, and Africa for <em>The New York Times</em> and <em>Los Angeles Times</em>, where he also worked as managing editor.</p>
<p>The author of 10 books on everything from Wall Street's insider-trading scandals to a biography of Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, Frantz also worked as a carpenter to support himself before enrolling in Columbia University's journalism school.</p> - Chet Susslin

<p><strong>Thomas Barthold:</strong> Growing up in St. Louis, the Joint Taxation Committee's chief of staff spent his summers working as a short-order cook, a railroad conductor at Six Flags, and a file clerk for the Army.</p> - Richard A. Bloom

<p><strong>David Napoliello:</strong> The senior policy adviser for Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman <strong>Barbara Boxer</strong>, D-Calif., may have a dry job, but he does have a creative outlet. Napoliello publishes and writes for Peregrine Entertainment, a comic-book company he founded in 1997 to print <em>Books of Lore</em>, his "sword-and-sorcery, fantasy-adventure comic book series."</p> - Mario Tama/Getty Images

<p><strong>Lily Batchelder: </strong>The Senate Finance Committee's majority tax counsel has a gold-plated résumé, but she began her career in a soup kitchen. Before heading off to Harvard and Yale for post-graduate degrees, Batchelder ran the Stanford Homelessness Action Coalition.</p> - Richard A. Bloom

<p><strong>Julia Jester:</strong> Although she was accustomed to earthquake warnings as a child in Bellevue, Wash., the majority staff director for the House Science, Space, and Technology's Technology and Innovation Subcommittee developed a greater appreciation of Mother Nature while teaching English in Japan in 1999 -- four years after the Kobe earthquake devastated the country.</p> - Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images

Want to stay ahead of the curve? Sign up for National Journal’s AM & PM Must Reads. News and analysis to ensure you don’t miss a thing.

Play of the Day! 05/23/12

Play of the Day!

Obama's Wake Up Call

Florida Capitol

STATES

QUIZ: Guess the Capitol

Clintons

White House

Medal of Freedom Honorees

Jim Morin: GOP and Greece

Political Humor

Morin's Animated World

Leave a Comment

The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.

Comments powered by Disqus

Columns

Josh Kraushaar: Against the Grain

The Emerging Democratic Divide

9:30 p.m.

The brouhaha over a moderate New Jersey mayor’s comments has aggravated tensions that have been growing within the party’s coalition.

Charlie Cook: Charlie Cook's Off to the Races

If It Hits the Fan

May 21, 2012

Europe’s economy is in a tailspin and China’s is slowing. Our political system is a mess. Who are voters going to blame if it all goes bad? Not just Obama.

Gwen Ifill: Gwen's Take

History's Romance: Why Politics Past Beats Politics Present

May 21, 2012

Is it just my imagination, or have politics and politicians grown smaller?

More Columns »

Expert Opinions

Energy Experts

Powering Our Military: What's the Role of Clean Energy?

12:59 p.m.

Latest Response by Tom Buis: American Families Need American Fuel

Energy Experts

Powering Our Military: What's the Role of Clean Energy?

10:35 a.m.

Latest Response by Keith Crane: DoD Renewable Fuels Investment Premature

Energy Experts

Powering Our Military: What's the Role of Clean Energy?

9:40 a.m.

Latest Response by Kathleen Sgamma: Access to American Oil Provides Security

More Expert Opinions »