Barney Frank

About Barney

• Politics interested him since he was in high school, but being gay and Jewish, he didn't think he'd have a shot.
• Involved in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer, a movement where white college students went to the South, registered black voters.
• Thought he wanted to be a professor but realized he had a very short attention span, not ideal for writing theses.
• Moved into politics, where he could use his short attention span as an asset, switch gears quickly, work on multiple projects at once.
• His advice for aspiring politicians: "Don't count on winning. Have a job you like doing while you're not winning and meet as many people as you can."
• After 42 years in politics, he sometimes feels tired of the profession, but stays as an obligation to his constituents.
• Stresses that too much importance is put on the career decisions you make right out of college.
• Says by 35, most people have made two or three major career changes; early decisions won't define your path for the next 75 years.