The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

the giAnt KiLLeRs 163
the 20 committee chairmen in the Senate, 14 of them are in their first
terms or the beginning of their second terms. I left the House after six
years. I ranked in the top 50 percent in seniority out of 434 people. It’s an
incredible phenomenon.” 2
Gorton made the most of the opportunity, quickly emerging as the
leader of the self-styled “Giant Killers” who had bounced the likes of Magnuson,
McGovern, Herman Talmadge, Gaylord Nelson, Frank Church
and Birch Bayh. Old hands chafed at their impatience. William Proxmire,
the quirky Democrat from Wisconsin, said they were undermining the
collegiality of the institution, especially that Gorton. With the exception
of Gorton and Rudman, The Wall Street Journal said, the Giant Killers
were more like a “Popsicle Brigade.” 3
goRton’s pRoud pARents—both would be gone within two years—
looked on with his siblings, spouse and children as Vice President Mondale
administered him the oath on January 3, 1981. Mary Ellen McCaffree,
who’d helped him win the redistricting wars in the Legislature, was
busy setting up the office. She was Gorton’s first chief of staff, the administrative
assistant, or A.A. as they say on the Hill. Chris Koch, a University
of Washington Law School graduate who had worked for Magnuson,
agreed to stay on for a few months to help them learn the ropes.
The legislative assistants—L.A.s—included Marianne McGettigan and
Creigh Agnew. McGettigan was in law school at Boston University when
Gorton came through on a recruiting trip as attorney general in 1974. He
snapped her up. She joined the office right after graduation and quickly
advanced to senior assistant attorney general. McGettigan was the only
member of his AG staff Gorton brought East. Agnew, who handled energy
and natural resource issues, was an Everett girl who had worked for
Bremerton Congressman Norm Dicks. She was well versed on timber
issues. Ritajean Butterworth, a friend, campaign organizer and adviser
since 1959, became Gorton’s state director, setting up offices in Seattle,
Spokane and Vancouver.
McCaffree, McGettigan, Agnew and Butterworth are four of the hundreds
of talented women Gorton attracted to public service. Their ranks
include a governor and a state Supreme Court justice. Others became
influential attorneys and corporate executives. McGettigan became chief
lobbyist for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, Agnew a vice
president at Weyerhaeuser. Anna Perez, Gorton’s communications director
in 1982, went on to become press secretary to First Lady Barbara Bush.
Invariably characterized as a chilly geek, Gorton is in fact kind and