Welcome to my Underground Lair

The Associated Press has a story out revealing the existence of various secret offices occupied by Senators. These "hard-to-find nooks scattered around the Capitol" are coveted by many of the 100 Senators in addition to their nearby official suites. Some of the hideaways are in the basement of the Capitol; some are hidden behind cordoned off hallways; yet others are behind doors marked only with an "H" for House and "S" for Senate and a number.

Usually, the more senior the member of the Senate, the swanker the hideaway setup. Some of the spaces lack a window and only have room for a standard desk and chair. Others have working fireplaces, a grand view of the Mall, phones, furniture, fridges, stoves, even bars.

Some of the things that go down or have gone down in the hideaways are as follows:

• Legislative dealmaking
• LBJ turned his into a "love nest". He would invite women there at day's end to "take diction"
• Louisiana Sen. Allan Ellender served shrimp gumbo to five U.S. presidents in his third floor hideaway
• Vice President Harry S. Truman learned of FDR's death while stopping by House Speaker Sam Rayburn's hideaway for a late-afternoon snort of bourbon
• Gordon Humphrey's staff called his hideaway the 3C center -- military jargon for command, control and communication -- because the former pilot would pretend he was back in the cockpit when going there
  

For more detail and a timeline, check the side story "Hideaway History" by the AP.

-Dippold

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