we first met in 1969 when i was working for a freshman senator named marlo cook, and he worked down in the executive branch. we met at the suggestion of his previous boss and mentor, senator howard baker. either he suspected our paths might cross again later or he just saw two serious young guys in need of some livelier social lives. now, this may shock you, mr. president, but i am afraid young lamar alexander and young mitch mcconnell didn't go crazy and paint the town red. both of us headed back home to continue our careers. it was already clear that a bright future likely lay in store for him. lamar's reverence for public service started early. i believe he was about ten years old when his father, himself a longtime local official, took him to meet his congressman, howard bake sr., the father of his future boss hand him a dime. i think lamar was hooked then and that. decades later when lamar announced his 1996 presidential run be, he was in his hometown of merriville. his people began with a story about his mother. she lovingly described his upbringing as lower middle class and she

we first met in 1969 when i was working for a freshman senator named marlo cook, and he worked down in the executive branch. we met at the suggestion of his previous boss and mentor, senator howard baker. either he suspected our paths might cross again later or he just saw two serious young guys in need of some livelier social lives. now, this may shock you, mr. president, but i am afraid young lamar alexander and young mitch mcconnell didn't go crazy and paint the town red. both of us headed back home to continue our careers. it was already clear that a bright future likely lay in store for him. lamar's reverence for public service started early. i believe he was about ten years old when his father, himself a longtime local official, took him to meet his congressman, howard bake sr., the father of his future boss hand him a dime. i think lamar was hooked then and that. decades later when lamar announced his 1996 presidential run be, he was in his hometown of merriville. his people began with a story about his mother. she lovingly described his upbringing as lower middle class and she