Insights^

Two years into the pandemic, and advocates are still primarily connecting with lawmakers in Washington over a telephone line or computer screen.  However, much has been learned over the past two years, and there are plenty of best practices that you can use to make sure your next virtual meeting with a member of Congress is knocked out of the park.

Embrace Videoconferencing

In the pandemic’s first year, conference calls seemed to be the modus operandi for advocates connecting with members of Congress and their staff.  Over the course of 2021, advocates and congressional offices alike increasingly warmed up to the idea of using videoconferencing platforms for meetings – with Zoom being an overwhelming favorite.  Here are some tips and tricks for using Zoom to your advantage.

• For multiple meetings at the same time, use multiple accounts.  The basic Zoom plan that’s free-of-charge only allows you to schedule one meeting at the same time.  However, scheduling more than one meeting for the same time slot is easy – just use a verified email account to create a new Zoom account. This will allow advocates to run a new meeting that will run concurrent with what’s already on the calendar.  When setting up more than one meeting at the same time, it’s essential to keep in mind two things:  make sure the waiting room is NOT selected, and select the option to allow participants to join at any time.  These two steps will allow participants to meet without the host, which is the person who holds the Zoom account.

• Do not schedule meetings with the same Zoom account-back-to-back.  If the ability to allow participants to join early anytime is selected, a participant could join a meeting early only to find that they are inadvertently part of a meeting that’s still running.  Ensuring at least a 30-minute window between meetings on the same Zoom account will prevent any accidental overlap on meeting attendees.

• Double-check your links.  Scheduling multiple meetings can be tedious, so make sure all the Zoom links you created are for the intended meeting participates.  This will help avoid cases of participants entering the wrong meeting or starting the meeting at the incorrect time.

Make Calendar Invitations Your One-Stop-Shop

When your meeting is scheduled, send an invitation via Outlook or another email service to all meeting participants.  This way, both the advocates and congressional offices know who’s attending, which 1) gives the advocates an opportunity to coordinate beforehand and 2) provides a way for advocates and congressional staff to follow-up after the meeting.

Additionally, be sure to include other information that’s necessary to all participants to have a successful meeting:  This could include:

• Links to Zoom, WebEx, or other videoconferencing platform.
• Meeting materials like PowerPoint slides, one-pagers, leave-behinds, and links to relevant external sources.
• Information about the legislator (connection to organization, past support of the advocacy issue, membership on relevant committee, etc.).

Recruit New Advocates

When setting up virtual meetings, don’t just rely on your normal “crew” that you could count on to meet legislators in-person.  Instead, look for people that may not be able to make travel arrangements to Washington but have plenty to add to the conversation.   With virtual meetings, geography and distance doesn’t pose any limitations, and advocates from anywhere can join your meeting to share a story with a congressional office.

President Harry Truman famously said, “if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”  The 33^rd president’s quote especially rings true in the White House, where 33 presidents have owned dogs as pets.  However, plenty of cats have called the White House home, and many have stories as interesting as their canine counterparts.

Dogs versus cats in the US: By sheer numbers, cats are more popular than dogs in America.  According to a 2020 survey by the American Pet Products Association, there are 88.3 million cat’s owners compared to the 74.4 million owners who have dogs.  By volume, however, fish are the most common pets, clocking in at nearly 152 million.

So, it should not be surprising that a few felines have enjoyed their time in the White House and here are some notable examples of the 11 US presidents who have owned cats.

• Abraham Lincoln.  When Mary Todd Lincoln was asked if her husband had a hobby, she replied, “cats.”  In addition to the two cats he kept in the White House named Tabby and Dixie, Lincoln was known to bring in strays.
• Theodore Roosevelt.  The 26^th president had two six-toed cats named Slippers and Tom Quartz (the latter was named after a character in a Mark Twain book).  Slippers was known for sleeping sprawled out in the middle of hallways, causing guests of a state banquet to walk around her on one occasion.
• Calvin Coolidge.  “Silent Cal” was an avid cat lover who purportedly saved a litter of kittens from being drowned as a young boy.  While serving as president, Coolidge had at least four cats at the White House – Tiger, Blackie, Timmy, and Smokey.  Coolidge originally brought Tiger (or “Tige” as he was nicknamed) to Washington from his farm in Vermont, and he frequently walked around the White House with Tiger draped around his neck.  After Tiger sneaked out of the White House in March 1924, Coolidge directed the Secret Service to issue a radio broadcast on the missing cat.  A listener eventually spotted Tiger sleeping near the National Mall and brought him back to the White House in a taxicab.
• Rutherford Hayes, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter.  All three presidents brought Siamese cats into the White House.  Hayes’ cat Siam was one of many animals to occupy the Executive Mansion at the time, while Ford gifted a cat named Shan to his daughter for Easter.  Carter’s cat was named Misty Malarky Ying Yang, which inspired the name of a Gabor Szabo song.
• Bill Clinton.  A stray, bicolor cat reportedly jumped into the arms of Chelsea Clinton as she was leaving her piano teacher’s house 1991.  Chelsea named the cat Socks, and the rest is history.  During his time in the White House, Socks became somewhat of a pop culture figure, having been the subject of a Murphy Brown episode and a virtual “guide” to children visiting the White House website.  Socks enjoyed sitting on the president’s shoulders, and he even had his own carrying case emblazoned with the presidential seal.  After the Clintons left the White House, Socks went to live with a staffer named Betty Currie  in Maryland, where he died in 2009 at the age of 20.
• George W. Bush.  George and Laura Bush adopted a black cat in 1991 who they named India after a Texas Rangers baseball player nicknamed “El Indio.”  India, who wasn’t as well known as the Bushes’ Scottish terriers, died in January 2009, just weeks before the Obamas moved into the White House.  The Bushes also had a six-toed cat named Ernie but gave him away to a friend before moving to Washington because of his tendency to claw furniture.

What about the Bidens?  For now, the First Family has two German Shepherds, Major and Champ.  However, the First Lady announced in April 2021 that they plan on adopting a cat from a local shelter but, there have been no updates since then. Therefore, the question remains unanswered on whether the White House will have a feline occupant for the first time since 2009.

Last Friday, President Joe Biden pardoned two turkeys named Peanut Butter and Jelly from Jasper, Indiana. Turkey pardons at the White House have been happening for as long as many of us can remember, but the tradition didn’t just appear out of the blue. When did the Commander in Chief start liberating turkeys, and what happens after the turkeys are pardoned?

Origins of the Turkey Pardon

The earliest example of a turkey getting its freedom at the White House goes back to Abraham Lincoln. In 1963, the Great Emancipator spared a turkey that his family planned to eat for Christmas at the urging of his son Tad. The turkey remained as Tad’s pet for at least another year.

Over the following decades, turkeys were occasionally donated to the president as gifts. Starting in 1873 during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, a Rhode Island man named Horace Vose gifted a turkey to the White House for Thanksgiving and kept up the tradition for the next 40 years.

By the time Vose died in 1913, the tradition of sending turkeys to the White House had gained visibility, and other organizations took up the opportunity to continue the tradition. In 1921, the American Legion sent a turkey to President Warren G. Harding, and in 1925, First Lady Grace Coolidge accepted a turkey from the Vermont Girl Scouts. In 1947, the National Turkey Federation took ownership of the tradition when it sent President Harry S. Truman a Thanksgiving turkey.

However, the first turkey to be set free on Thanksgiving was in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy granted a “reprieve” to a turkey sent to the White House. During the presidencies of Richard M. Nixon and Jimmy Carter, turkeys were occasionally spared and sent to live on a farm or petting zoo.

Use of the term “presidential pardon” did not come until 1987, when President Ronald Reagan jokingly used the term in a turkey presentation ceremony. During the ceremony, Reagan quipped that he would pardon the turkey in response to a question from ABC News reporter Sam Donaldson on whether he would pardon Oliver North and John Poindexter, who were at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal. Since Reagan, every US president has maintained the tradition of pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving.

The Turkey Selection Process

The National Turkey Federation has managed the turkey selection process for nearly 75 years. The White House turkeys are raised in the same manner as other turkeys bred for consumption and are typically raised on the farm of whoever currently chairs the National Turkey Federation.  From an initial flock of 40-80 turkeys, a group of 20 is selected based on size and tameness. Handlers then familiarize this group with human contact and music so the turkeys are accustomed to the noises and sounds of a White House ceremony. This group of turkeys are then winnowed down to two finalists who are sent to Washington for the pardoning ceremony.

What Happens to the Pardoned Turkeys?

All pardoned turkeys go to a pen specifically built for them at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. The pen includes a small coup to protect the turkeys from the elements plus an area where tourists can stop by to view them.

Unfortunately, however, the turkeys don’t stick around Mount Vernon for too long. Since the turkeys are bred for consumption, their high-protein diet increases their weight to the point that it puts undue stress on their organs, meaning the turkeys only live for another year or two at most after their pardon.

Just like the people they represent, members of Congress hail from all sorts of backgrounds. With this diversity comes some interesting names.  Here, we take a look at the stories behind some of the more intriguing names among current Representatives and Senators.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Wyden is the son of Peter Wyden and Edith Rosenow, both of whom were Jewish and had fled Nazi Germany to avoid persecution.  The elder Wyden’s surname was originally Weidenreich, and he changed his surname after serving in the US Army in World War II and before embarking on a career in journalism.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Manchin’s paternal grandparents were Italian immigrants whose surname was originally Mancini.  The name comes from the Italian adjective mancino, which literally means “left-handed.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

Klobuchar’s paternal great-grandparents hail from Slovenia.  Her surname is derived from Klobučar, which means “hatter” in Slovenian.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)

An ancestor of Crapo is Peter Crapaud, a young Frenchman who was shipwrecked off Cape Cod in 1680.  Crapaud means “toad” in French.

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI)

Born Deborah Insley, the Michigan Congresswoman changed her surname to Dingell after her marriage to the late Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) in 1981.  Congressman Dingell’s father was the son of Polish immigrants who anglicized their surname from Dzięglewicz.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

The current Majority Leader’s father, Steen Theilgaard Høyer, is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, and his first name is a variation of his father’s.  In May 2009, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark honored Hoyer by making him a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog.

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)

Pascrell is the grandson of Italian immigrants.  His paternal grandfather anglicized his last name from Pascrelli after arriving in America.

Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-IN)

Mrvan’s surname is Slovak in origin.  Mrvan is far from the only Slovak-American to serve in Congress – his predecessor, former Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN) is also of Slovak descent, as is former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA).

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)

Nunes’s surname is Portuguese and pronounced NEW-ness.  Three of his four grandparents immigrated to California’s San Joaquin Valley from Portugal’s Azores islands.  Nunes is a patronymic surname meaning “son of Nuno.”  Unfortunately, Nunes is frequently mispronounced as the Spanish surname Nuñez (pronounced NOON-yez), even by other government officials.

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL)

Yoho is an anglicized version of the Swiss-German surname Joho.  The earliest use of the name can be traced back to 1395, the birth year of Routschmann Joho in Switzerland’s Aargau Canton.

With things opening up soon, staff and members of Congress whom we talk to anticipate virtual meetings will continue.  This is because virtual meetings allow more efficient use of time for the members and staff, as well as the potential for greater participation from constituents and advocates who can’t travel to DC.  While not great for relationship building, virtual advocacy can be productive and definitely worth the time and effort.

Here are some tips —-

• Platform choice goes to the member of Congress or staff.  Unlike most other professional settings, Hill still prefers telephone so don’t be surprised.  While more and more offices on Capitol Hill have adopted videoconferencing as their go-to platform for meetings, some individual staffers prefer phone calls.  Whatever the case, let the congressional staffer decide the best way to conduct a virtual meeting.
• Send materials ahead of time.  3-4 page powerpoints are great.  You can email other advocacy papers too as attachments, but don’t except the people you’re meeting with to read it all ahead of time.
• Use visual aids.  Don’t simply email a congressional staffer the handouts you’d otherwise share during an in-person meeting.  If you’re using a videoconferencing platform to conduct a meeting, there are more opportunities to convey your message, whether it be through images, a PowerPoint presentation, or videos.
• Location, location, location.   With a virtual meeting, you have the chance to bring a legislator or a staffer into your world.  Consider broadcasting your virtual meeting from a safe location that helps to tell your story or convey your message.  For example, if you’re a health care provider, consider participating in a virtual meeting from your workplace, whether it be a hospital or another medical setting.
• Plan ahead and select a “meeting captain.”  Plan ahead what to say – it will make the virtual visit go smoother.  Create a few simple talking points, 3-4 messages you can make sure get across in your conversation.  If your virtual meeting contains multiple advocates, give each individual specific messages or issues to discuss so that everyone’s voice is heard.  If your meeting contains more than three advocates, consider designating someone as a “meeting captain” to introduce all participants and steer the overall conversation.
• Check your tech!  Familiarize yourself with Zoom and whichever other platforms you may be using to ensure that your message isn’t held back by any technical difficulties.  Make sure all links work appropriately and your devices handle whichever virtual meeting platforms you may be using.   If you supplied the dial-in number, check to see if you sent the correct passcode.

Even when the pandemic subsides, virtual meetings are likely to continue to play a role in advocacy.  Advocates who would otherwise be unable to travel to a legislator’s office due to geography or scheduling conflicts can make a difference by connecting virtually.  In time, virtual meetings may complement in-person meetings and serve to strengthen an overall advocacy message.