Rep. Russ Fulcher became agriculture secretary when he was just 17 years old — at Boys Nation, that is.
The Idaho Republican first came to D.C. in the summer of 1979, after finishing the Boys State program back home. He spent a week learning about politics, building a mock government and rising through the ranks. The highlight, he said, was laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, even if it meant frantically looking for a suit.
He ultimately borrowed one too large for his frame: “That’s what stuck in my mind, because I didn’t bring one,” he says.
