While I was a student at Jackson High School, Bennett attempted to secure an appointment for me at Annapolis as a Midshipman. He was thwarted by the stringent Navy vision requirements. I was simply too nearsighted to be a Midshipman. Of course, four years later when I graduated from the University of Florida, the Navy was very willing to waive the vision requirements and send me off to the OCS at Newport, RI.

He also offered me a part-time position as an Intern in his office. However, the pay was minimal and the Washington living expenses were beyond my slim budget at the time.

Well, I thought at the time, there goes my opportunity to get some experience in a Congressional Office.

Little did I know what lay ahead.

By 1980, I had served my entire military service obligation on active duty with the Navy and was working in Washington, D.C. the vice president of the Taft Publishing Company. After publication of The Nonprofit Handbook (McGraw-Hill, 1979), Taft had asked me to head up their publication of directories, periodicals and newsletters.

A telephone call from Bennett’s then AA, John Farley, asked me to join Charlie for lunch–that he had something to discuss with me. John explained that he wanted to talk to me about leaving my position and serving as the Administrative Assistant. Farley was leaving soon to join a major Washington news organization.

After discussing the position with him, I made a difficult decision: leave Taft and become a “staffer” over on The Hill. I reasoned that the experience would make the pay cut and additional hours worth it. I right about the “experience” part, because it certainly was an experience.

© Copyright 2015 Tracy D. Connors