New on Capitol Hill

For last Thursday’s class, the piece “New Boy on Capitol Hill” stood out from the other stories that I read. Written by Bobby Baker, Johnson’s confident who eventually ended up in prison for abusing his power, this piece described his initial impressions of Washington when he first arrived as a Senate page in 1943. Coming from a small southern town, he describes the shock he felt when he arrived in Washington, of his “loneliness and disenchantment” with the nation’s capitol, as well as the “introductory” or hazing rituals that various senators put him through (78).

One of the important lessons I took from the piece is that one has to work hard at their job, no matter how insignificant it might seem. Baker diligently learned the preferences of each of the senators he was serving, going beyond the duties of his job to serve. Likewise, it is important to remember when we are working on our internships to give our all because no small task is meaningless. Another point I related to in Baker’s piece was how much he learned while sitting on the Senate floor. Working in the offices of the government provides us with invaluable experience, often not due to the work that we are given but by the people that we are surrounded by.

I was also interested in Baker’s description of then Senator Truman of Missouri, a man who was the “most genteel man I ever met” (80). Due to his role in the dropping of WWII atomic bombs, most Truman stories I have read do not depict him in a positive light or as a powerful man. In Baker’s account, however, he describes Truman as a man who never looked down on Senate page boys, never treating them as someone who was beneath his station when he asked them to fetch a document or call his secretary.
The story of the underdog Senate page boy who made it as Secretary to the Senate majority shows that advancement is possible with hard work and perseverance. Yes, Baker did end up going to jail, but it doesn’t make his story any less astonishing.