Washington, D. C. in the early '60's

With the elections last week bringing many new people to Washington, D.C. it is interesting to reflect on our transfer into the City 50  years ago. We went in with the expectation of being back out after a few years and stayed for 18. Many politicians probably do about the opposite. Working as a Civil Service employee with the Soil Conservation Service, (Now the Natural Resource Conservation Service) in USDA was a much different experience than being an elected politician. As I advanced in my career and grade level, my job took me into much closer contact with elected people. I personally found most of them very capable and reasonable to work with. Their public persona was often much different than their private life,  but they were always concerned about being reelected, especially those in the House of Representatives. The biggest challenge was often having to "train" the newly appointed Administrative Assistants within the USDA that came in with changes of Administrations. Fortunately, the conservation of our Soil and Water Natural Resources and their use on a Sustainability Basis was a pretty easy sell.