The members of the Center's staff were at all times knowledgeable and helpful; I needed and appreciated both. In particular, Avery Gardiner and Yuki Noguchi, interns at the Center, conducted the essential research into the careers and campaign contribution histories of the former members of Congress who were interviewed for this project. My thanks to them for the thorough and cheerful way they performed a task that is often described as thankless. This manuscript benefited from the tight editing and good judgment of copy editor Bill Hogan, designer Kathy Cashel, and the guidance and perseverance of the Center's publications coordinator, Margaret Engle.
Finally, and most important, we are all indebted to the 25 former lawmakers, and their staffs, who gave us much of their valuable time so that we might better understand the institution in which they served
