“Out of college, I had two job offers. One was to be a canoe instructor for Outward Bound. And frankly, that would have paid better than the job I took, working on a policy commission in Washington that focused on immigration policy and refugees. But that decision made all the difference.”

American attorney and politician

Rob Portman is an American attorney and Republican politician who served in Congress and in the executive branch, with public office spanning the 1990s through 2023. He was a United States senator from Ohio from 2011 to 2023. Before the Senate, Portman served as a U.S. representative for Ohio's 2nd district from 1993 to 2005. He also held two senior federal posts, serving as the 14th United States trade representative from 2005 to 2006 and as the 35th director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2006 to 2007.