The hustle, bustle and vibrancy of major cities have long lured young people to find their futures among the sights and the sounds of metropolitan areas. Our nation’s capital adds yet another dimension to such appeal.
Truly one of the great cities of the world, Washington, D.C., is not only our nation’s capital, but also an international crossroads. Surrounded by familiar monuments and icons of the U.S. government, young people from Chattanooga are finding opportunities in Washington, D.C., and gaining experiences that will last a lifetime.
Dori Thornton
Working as the Deputy Social Secretary at the White House has offered 26-year-old Dori Thornton first hand experience in planning and scheduling state dinners and visits by foreign dignitaries, while keeping the calendars of President and Mrs. Bush coordinated. The daughter of John “Thunder” Thornton and Sally Lockett of Chattanooga, Dori graduated from Girls Preparatory School and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
“I have been in D.C. since June, 2003,” she related, “so more than four years. I didn’t expect to stay as long as I have, but I think that is the way most people feel that live here. When I graduated from college, I remember discussing with my dad how I wanted to plan events and him telling me that in the private sector events are expendable and depend on the budget. He also said that no matter what, there will always be politics and there will always be events surrounding politics. I have found that to be very true!”
When Dori moved to Washington, D.C., her first employment involved planning and coordinating fundraisers for five Republican Congressmen. In December, 2004, she joined the President’s inaugural committee, assisting in recruiting and training 5,000 volunteers who worked more than 20 events during inaugural week.
“I still can’t believe we managed to get it all done,” she smiled, “but that experience showed me how much I enjoy and thrive in a fast-paced and high-stress atmosphere. After the inaugural, I interviewed and got a job in the White House visitors’ office, which coordinates tours and handles the public events, the largest one being the Easter Egg Roll. From the visitors’ office, I moved to Legislative Affairs in the White House, where I coordinated events and traveled whenever the President and/or Mrs. Bush interacted with U.S. Senators.”
Thornton’s first day in her current position was May 7, 2007, shadowing her predecessor, Missy DeCamp, on the very day that the Queen of England came to the capital for a state arrival ceremony on the south lawn of the White House and a state dinner, which happened to be the first white tie event of the Bush administration.
“The whole day as I was following Missy around, I kept thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, everyone is asking her all these very important questions, and she knows all the answers.’” Dori remembered. “I was amazed and a little intimidated about the next day, after Missy left the White House and stepping into her shoes and answering all those questions. It was one of the most surreal days of my life.”
Dori comes home to Chattanooga several times each year, enjoying the Riverwalk and the Walnut Street Bridge, Lookouts baseball games during the summer, and shopping the clothing boutiques on the Northshore. She does plan to come back to Tennessee in the future and is considering opening her own event planning business.
Todd Womack
Todd Womack, a native of Chattanooga who has served as a member of Senator Corker’s staff for the last six years, beginning as communications director during the Senator’s term as mayor of Chattanooga, finds that commuting weekly between the nation’s capital and his hometown works for a family man. A graduate of Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences and UTC, Todd and his wife, Katie, are the parents of three children, Laura Kate, age 5, Rebekah, 3, and John, 1.
I have a unique perspective on D.C.,” he commented. “I led the transition as we began building an office and a staff, so I was in Washington from mid-November of last year until the first of January. Then, I came back to the capital in mid-February. My family has stayed in Chattanooga, and I have a little apartment in Washington, which is three blocks from the Capitol building, so I can walk to my office every morning. We have been able to work things out so that I will probably continue to commute weekly.”
As Senator Corker’s chief of staff, Womack maintains the importance of staying in touch with Tennesseans. He noted, “What you find in Washington is that you have to be careful not to adopt a Beltway mentality. In Washington, people sometimes tell you what you want them to say. Back home, you get feedback which is very candid and helpful. It is easy to lose sight of why you are in Washington and who sent you if you are not back in the state on a regular basis. Commuting has helped me to be very well grounded, and almost half the chiefs of staff in the Senate commute back and forth to their states.”
Since Senator Corker took office earlier this year, Womack has assembled a staff of approximately 40 employees who support the Washington, D.C., office and six others across Tennessee. Employees have responded to more than 150,000 pieces of mail from Tennesseans. Senator Corker plans to visit all 95 Tennessee counties during his first year in office, and he has already been to Iraq twice and to Europe while considering major issues.
“There are days when I walk to the Capitol and really feel awe struck and honored to be there in Washington,” Todd said. “Every day is different. Constituents come and go on a regular basis, sharing information on issues and legislation moving on the Senate floor. It is a privilege to do the work I do, and one of the most important things I have learned from the Senator is to do the very best job you can on the work at hand. The great thing about my commuting is that I work from early in the morning until late at night. While I am in Washington, I focus on work.”
Interestingly, Womack cites the sense of camaraderie among Senatorial staffs despite the presence of partisan politics. Periodic dinner events bring as many as 60 chiefs of staff together, seating them alternately according to political party. “You get to meet and talk with people that you otherwise might not know,” he related. “Discussions cross party lines, and the work that gets done is wonderful. We don’t get into policy debates very much. There is a partnership, and we focus on finding common ground.”
Beth Tipps
Meeting former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and listening to presentations by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas are special experiences for Beth Tipps, the daughter of Dr. Steve and Mary Leslie Tipps. Beth has worked in the nation’s capital as the intern coordinator for the Heritage Foundation and recently accepted a position on the staff of Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) as assistant to Chief of Staff Todd Womack. A graduate of Baylor and Samford University, Beth moved to Washington after college and initially worked in the office of Senator Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) as a staff assistant.
At 24, Beth has lived in Washington since 2005 and for more than a year has supervised over 60 interns for the Heritage Foundation. “The Heritage Foundation is a conservative public policy think tank, and its mission is to ‘create an America where freedom, prosperity and civil society flourish.’ During any kind of policy debate which is taking place on Capitol Hill, Heritage goes back to our conservative founding and suggests to policymakers how we can preserve the ideals the nation was founded on and how we can have conservative policy in our government,” she related.
Beth is now living on Capitol Hill, and from the middle of her street she can see the Capitol Dome. “Sometimes I jog down the National Mall and go past the monuments,” she continued. “It is beautiful and flat, and I love to see things like the World War II Memorial, which causes me to reflect on the history of our country and the people who fought to make it what it is today. I also have a road bike and sometimes ride down to Mount Vernon or up to Maryland. Mount Vernon is about a 40-mile round trip.”
Returning to Chattanooga several times a year, Tipps loves to come home, but her immediate plans are to stay in Washington for a while. The vibrant political scene offers new opportunities. “I do hope to be here for some time,” she remarked. “There are Congressional elections regularly, and jobs are opening up all the time. There are many different avenues you can take with your career, and I do feel like I have put down some pretty good roots in Washington, D.C. I live about six blocks from my office and can walk to work. A typical day might include touring the Pentagon with the interns, hosting an afternoon briefing about what Heritage thinks of healthcare issues, and then meeting friends for dinner at night. Sometimes movies are shown in the evening on the National Mall. So you can sprinkle some fun things in, too.”
Alex Sokohl
After graduating from Red Bank High School as valedictorian in 1999, the lure of Georgetown University and an excellent educational opportunity brought Alex Sokohl to Washington, D.C. The son of Dana and Jack Sokohl, Alex is currently in medical school at Georgetown along with his fiancée, Meg Gallagher of Yardley, Pennsylvania. His work experience in the nation’s capital, however, has been varied and fascinating.
Initially, Alex worked as an intern with the office of 3rd District Congressman Zach Wamp (R-Tennessee). This was followed by an internship with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and employment with the U.S. Department of Justice. “I worked for the Department of Justice as a paralegal in the criminal division of the Office of International Affairs. In a nutshell, imagine a criminal involved in a federal case who goes to another country. We used international treaties, extradition agreements, and bank records to bring that person back here for trial.”
From 2003 to 2005, Alex worked regularly with the Department of Justice and was required to maintain top secret security clearance. He traveled extensively, visiting Brazil and Argentina and putting his degrees in Spanish and International Business to good use. In 2005, Alex entered Johns Hopkins University to complete pre-medical courses and work with neurologists researching diseases of the brain. He is currently employed at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington and continues to work with the Department of Justice as a document translator.
Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Alex is a fan of the Harry Potter book series. He returns to Chattanooga at least twice a year. “I love the development of the riverfront,” he said, “particularly AT&T Park, and I go back to Chattanooga every summer to at least one Lookouts game. Meg came down with me recently, and we love Sunset Rock and Point Park. My dad and I enjoy the Pickle Barrel downtown, and I am a big YMCA man.”
Although he describes himself as a “small town guy” and Meg as a “Northern girl who loves the South,” Alex takes advantage of the amenities of Washington, D.C. “I do enjoy going abroad and to big cities,” he noted, “but living in them can be overwhelming. Around the corner, though, you can find anything you want, whether it is dry cleaning or Indian cuisine. This is also a zone of political power, and you can see it in action. I really enjoy seeing the political process first hand and being around something that influences America and the world so much.”
Susanne Sachsman
A graduate of the Baylor School, Yale University, and Harvard Law School, Susanne Sachsman is the daughter of David Sachsman, a professor of Communications at UTC, and Judy Sachsman, who teaches at Hixson High School. A resident of Washington, D.C., since 2003, she is currently serving as Counsel for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is chaired by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-California).
“I work as one of a number of investigative attorneys with the committee,” said Sachsman, “and some of the stuff we have done has been very high profile.”
Among the investigations in which she has participated are the hearings into the friendly fire death of former pro football player and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan and the circumstances which led to the capture and rescue of Army Private First Class Jessica Lynch in Iraq, including the subsequent release of information to the media by the Bush administration.
“It is pretty much investigating whatever is in the news,” she explained, “so you might have seen some of the hearings on how the story got out about Pat Tillman and the misinformation coming from the battlefield related to Jessica Lynch. We have conducted investigations of numerous kinds, including what the heads of various agencies are doing. We have conducted hearings on soldiers coming back home and not having sufficient mental health services, and FEMA and whether it is ready for another disaster. There are certain things which nobody has looked at in a long time, and if anybody is left without oversight it can be a problem. It is similar to driving without having the police around. You are probably going to speed. However, there needs to be police out there. Just having the thought in your mind that there could be police out there is part of our role.”
Susanne has previously worked as a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice. She is married to Daniel Grooms, whom she met in law school and is serving with the U.S. Attorney’s office. Last November, the couple became parents of their first child, daughter Samantha.
“The nearness to the nation’s capital and all the monuments and museums and things that are going on here is really special,” she said of her time in Washington, D.C. “We used to live in the city before we had our baby, and we were only 10 blocks from the White House. We took walks around the monuments and such. Now, we live in Alexandria, Virginia, about 15 minutes outside the city. Every now and then we look at each other and say, ‘Wow! This is exactly the right place to be.’ The country is paying attention, and we take our role very seriously. What we are doing is extremely important to the country, and in addition to that, getting to be a part of it is very rewarding.”
Several trips home to Chattanooga have been made in recent months, visiting family and enjoying the local amenities. “Chattanooga has really blossomed in recent years,” commented Susanne. “The whole downtown area has been beautifully renovated.”
Lesley Landrum
A graduate of Red Bank High School and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Lesley Landrum is a relative newcomer to Washington, D.C., and is working as the press assistant in the office of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee). “I’ve been here for about a month, and so far I have loved every second of it – even when I got lost and ended up in Maryland when trying to find the closest Target,” she laughed. “Everything moves at a much faster pace here, whether it is traffic or a meeting. I think the best part of living in D.C. is that there is a wealth of things to do, from free movies and performances on the National Mall to professional sporting events. There is never a dull moment.”
Although she has not been back to Chattanooga since moving, Lesley, the daughter of Allyson Weathers and Wayne Landrum, knows exactly what she will do on her first visit home. “I would have dinner with friends and family at Las Margaritas in North Chattanooga and then either go to a Lookouts game or just lay low and watch a movie. Although it is much smaller than D.C., Chattanooga has many of the same family friendly aspects that I enjoy, such as beautiful parks, great museums, and delicious restaurants.”
Being in close proximity to the operations of the federal government has been a fascinating experience for Lesley thus far. During her commute she crosses the National Mall and passes by the National Gallery of Art and the National Archives. She has also discovered the subway system, which connects the House and Senate office buildings with the Capitol.
“I think the accessibility of the people to their government is very interesting,” noted Lesley. “The capital city is a tourism spot, and it is neat to think that citizens of the country get to interact closely with it. Washington, D.C., is also a melting pot of culture. If everyone were the same here, it would not be nearly as fun and interesting. So far, the experience has been kind of surreal. The other day, I was on the same elevator with Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York), and just a month ago I was sitting in an office in Chattanooga. It is such an honor to work with Senator Alexander. To be in the same room with someone who cares so much about education and is concerned about things that matter to Tennesseans is really amazing. He is great.”
Bryan Patten
After several years in the Bay Area of California, Bryan Patten, the son of Bryan and Kathy Patten, decided to come back east. A graduate of Baylor, Stanford University, and Yale, he came to Washington, D.C., to work with a company which operated a network of virtual charter schools. For the last three years, he has worked as the chief financial officer of Cesar Chavez Charter Schools.
“The theory of the charter school is that the founder has the flexibility to run the school the way they want,” said Bryan, “but there is accountability and a review process by the authorizing agency. When I quit my corporate job and left the private sector to come here, we had a single campus with 250 kids. We didn’t have an office for me, so I would sit in the electrical closet underneath the circuit breaker. The HVAC was in there throwing off water 0n the floor. So, there I was in the closet wondering what I had gotten into. It was also a memorable experience building our second school. We broke ground in the spring and had to have it ready for 500 students in September. We built an 80,000-square foot building in four months. It was sort of like a barn raising.”
In many ways, Washington is a city of young people, and several aspects of life in the capital are appealing. Being closer to family in Chattanooga and enjoying something more of a Southern feel have been benefits for Bryan. He sees Washington as a friendly town where you can meet people easily.
“A lot of the people here are in the 20s and 30s age brackets,” said Patten, who is 33 and single. “Many of them are drawn here by choice and are really interested in what they are doing. They are fun people to know. One of the characteristics of living in D.C. at this age is that it is a very transient town. A lot of people come for two or three years and go back to grad school or whatever. That is both good and bad. It makes it a friendly town, so not having the social network you formed in high school is less of an issue, but I am going to ‘going away’ parties all the time. This is a pretty easy town to meet people in.”
With non-stop flights between Washington and Chattanooga, Bryan is able to get home in less than four hours, and he makes the trip at least a couple of times a year. Chattanooga, he says, is an up-and-coming city. “When I tell people where I am from, they say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that place.’ I always hear good things from them.”
With its outstanding cultural, political, and social offerings, Washington, D.C. attracts young people from around the world including Chattanooga. Living and working in the nation’s capital has become, for them, an experience like no other.