ONWARD & UPWARD: RENZI’S AIDE BEARS NAME OF ARMENIAN WARRIOR
By Betsy Rothstein
The Hill, DC
Nov 7 2006
Among Vartan Djihanian’s favorite memories on Capitol Hill is the one
that occurred when he was serving as a congressional page at the ripe
old age of 16.
Djihanian, now 26, has recently become Rep. Rick Renzi’s (R-Ariz.)
communications director. He looks back on his time as a page with
particular fondness, despite the fact that he was performing such
menial tasks as running errands for members and delivering messages
to them on the House Floor.
His all-time favorite memory happened late one night after the House
adjourned around 2 a.m. Then-Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas) was leaving at
the same time as the pages. Armey stayed and gave them an impromptu
tour of the old House chamber.
"It’s one of the fondest memories I have," Djihanian said. "For him
to take time out to do that was very memorable."
For a young aide, Djihanian has held many jobs in politics. He began
his career in 1993 when he volunteered for the campaign of former
Rep. Jim Rogan (R-Calif.), who was then a state assemblyman.
Djihanian was 13 at the time. He had met Rogan during middle school
while doing a mock trial. He was given a class assignment to visit
a courtroom; he visited Rogan, who, at the time, was a municipal
court judge.
After meeting him, he phoned and asked to volunteer on his state
assembly race.
"As a kid you’re always looking for role models," he said. "Rogan
took time to mentor me."
After Rogan won election, Djihanian continued to work on his state
assembly campaigns and went on during high school to work on Rogan’s
congressional campaign. In college he worked fulltime on Rogan’s 2000
campaign for Congress.
"It was long days," he recalls.
Other political jobs he has held include serving as the district chief
of staff for state Sen. Bill Morrow (R). Between 2003 and 2005, he
was Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon’s (R-Calif.) press secretary and before
that served as deputy press secretary for Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.).
Djihanian grew up in Glendale, Calif. He graduated from the University
of California at Los Angeles with degrees in public policy and
political science. He says he enjoys handling press, but would one
day like to run for office himself.
And he would make an interesting candidate in name alone. Djihanian
was named for his grandfather. The name, Vartan, comes from St.
Vartan the Warrior, a military and spiritual leader of Armenia,
and so it comes with great weight and responsibility.
Djihanian says he feels fortunate that St. Vartan the Warrior is a
positive figure in history and could be a boon for a prospective run
for Congress, joking that the same would not be true if the warrior
had been "Vartan the Horrible."
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
