Congressional mortality: The game-changer was installing air conditioning in the Capitol and its office buildings. DC summers are hot and last for many weeks. Now consider tubby Congressional members smoking ciggies and/or cigars, with clogged arteries and high blood pressure, in a building where the sun is merciless in its heat. Cars on the streets brought brown smog. Before cars, there was the miasma arising from horse manure & urine.
As with the Capitol itself, the older Congressional office buildings are recognizable by their tall windows (for air flow). I believe the Rayburn House Office Building, completed in 1960s, was the first to have AC in the Capitol complex.
While members left DC at the height of the summer, the heat was fierce enough at its beginning & end to take its toll.
An old story/legend says during the summer, the British embassy allowed its male staff to wear tropical clothing (white, short-sleeved shirts & Bermuda shorts, knee-high socks, and shoes). Because, as Noel Coward told us, mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
A lot of those guys left DC in the summer, of course. The literal swampiness of DC was unlivable— I grew up in Savannah, Georgia so I get it. I hung out under the oaks.
I remember learning about the colonial era of Georgia, with so many of the early British governors in the 1700s popping off from heatstroke in their woolens. This was before they had their lovely Bermuda shorts
It must be snowing in Hell because Rahm and I agree on one thing.
Alas, it will take a Constitutional amendment.
We couldn't even get Congressional term limits (in number) without an amendment, forget about an age limit.
Congressional mortality: The game-changer was installing air conditioning in the Capitol and its office buildings. DC summers are hot and last for many weeks. Now consider tubby Congressional members smoking ciggies and/or cigars, with clogged arteries and high blood pressure, in a building where the sun is merciless in its heat. Cars on the streets brought brown smog. Before cars, there was the miasma arising from horse manure & urine.
As with the Capitol itself, the older Congressional office buildings are recognizable by their tall windows (for air flow). I believe the Rayburn House Office Building, completed in 1960s, was the first to have AC in the Capitol complex.
While members left DC at the height of the summer, the heat was fierce enough at its beginning & end to take its toll.
An old story/legend says during the summer, the British embassy allowed its male staff to wear tropical clothing (white, short-sleeved shirts & Bermuda shorts, knee-high socks, and shoes). Because, as Noel Coward told us, mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
A lot of those guys left DC in the summer, of course. The literal swampiness of DC was unlivable— I grew up in Savannah, Georgia so I get it. I hung out under the oaks.
I remember learning about the colonial era of Georgia, with so many of the early British governors in the 1700s popping off from heatstroke in their woolens. This was before they had their lovely Bermuda shorts