-
(#1) Elizabeth Warren
- 70
Before Elizabeth Warren was a progressive and feminist hero, she was just a babysitter for the family across the street.
Source: ElizabethWarren.com -
(#2) Robert Andrews - Janitor
New Jersey: your state representative used to be a janitor. Rep. Robert Andrews got his first job in high school, working as a janitor thanks to a summer job-training program through the Department of Labor.
Source: The Hill -
(#3) George H. W. Bush
- 95
President George Herbert Walker Bush was always an oil man. In fact, his first job came when he graduated college and started painting oil rigs.
Source: First Ladies Fact Book -
(#4) Gerald Ford
- Dec. at 93 (1913-2006)
Before he was Leader of the Free World, he was flipping burgers. President Gerald Ford grilled hamburgers at a local restaurant while he was just a high school student.
Source: CNN Money -
(#5) Rand Paul
- 56
It's hard to imagine Kentucky Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate Rand Paul working at a miniature golf course. But that was his first job in high school, which he said was "great because I got to stay out late since my parents didn't really know what time the mini golf closed."
Source: The Washington Post -
(#6) Tom Price
- 65
Before making the news, Georgia congressman Tom Price was delivering it. The Republican representative worked as a young man, even before high school, as a paperboy.
Source: The Hill -
(#7) Dick Durbin
- 75
Dick Durbin's first job came when he had to pay his own way through college. In East St. Louis, Durbin worked long hours in stock yards as a meat packer.
Source: DickDurbin.com -
(#8) Pat Spearman - Hotel Maid
Only Nevada can say its state Senator was once a hotel maid. Vegas politician Pat Spearman said the job made her realize how people who work domestic jobs "are treated as less than human," and said "If you do not know how domestics are treated, view the movie The Help."
Source: Nevada State Legislature -
(#9) Saxby Chambliss
- 76
In 1966, Saxby Chambliss started paying for his education by being a baker. The Georgia Senator's deep Georgian roots go back to his days at a bakery in Athens, which helped him cover the cost of college.
Source: Georgia Trend -
(#10) Jacques Chirac
- 87
Source: The New York Times -
(#11) Richard Nixon
- Dec. at 81 (1913-1994)
President Richard Nixon was less worried about causing scandals when he was a young man. That's because he was a clerk at his family's grocery store before his presidential dreams took hold.
Source: Pop Sugar -
(#12) Jimmy Carter
- 95
Sure, you know all about Carter's peanut farming background, but did you know that in high school he was paid 40 cents an hour to measure land for the government 10 hours a day as a surveyor?
Source: UCSB.edu -
(#13) Ronald Reagan
- Dec. at 93 (1911-2004)
President Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood actor before he was President of the United States. But before he was a Hollywood actor, at age 16, Reagan was a Rock River lifeguard, saving several lives during his summers at the pool.
Source: LA Times -
(#14) Ron Johnson
- 64
The Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson was once a 15-year-old dishwasher at a Walgreen's grill. By the age of 16, Johnson was promoted to soda jerk, fry cook, and finally night manager.
Source: RonJohnson.Senate.gov -
(#15) Marco Rubio
- 48
Marco Rubio's first job came from within the family, but don't get too jealous about the nepotism. Long before he was a Senator, Rubio built cages for exotic birds at an import-export company owned by his brother in law.
Source: POLITICO -
(#16) Wendy Davis
- 56
Wendy Davis, the sneaker-sporting Senator from Texas, got her first job at an Orange Julius, everyone's favorite mall food court stop.
Source: The Guardian -
(#17) Orrin Hatch
- 85
As a young man in Pennsylvania, Senator Orrin Hatch got his first job working very long hours as a metal lather in order to help his family's financial situation.
Source: Hatch.Senate.gov -
(#18) Barack Obama
- 58
When President Barack Obama was a teenager, he lived with his grandparents. He also got his first job, which was serving ice cream at a Baskin-Robbins in Honolulu, HI.
Source: TIME -
(#19) Joe Biden
- 77
Vice President Joe Biden has come a long way since his teenage years. Back when Biden was a teen, you could find him in Wilmington, DE as the lifeguard of his local swimming pool.
Source: The Root -
(#20) Hillary Clinton
- 72
After school, and even during her vacation breaks, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was a babysitter for multiple families and even migrant workers.
Source: FirstLadies.org
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About This Tool
The first jobs in our life may determine the career direction in the next 3 or even 5 years. Many famous politicians were not born in wealth and power, they also got through many interesting experiences in their growth like other ordinary people. Some of the famous politicians have also faced the pressure of life and work, their first jobs are different and rich, such as waitresses, gardeners, and soda bottle recycling workers, and some weird jobs.
These humble job experiences when they were young are contrasted with their professional and serious images in politics today. The random tool introduced 20 of the weirdest jobs of famous politicians.
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