Mary Lee DiSpirito recalls an eventful day nearly seven decades ago. For one thing, she was graduating with a degree from Peabody College in Nashville, Tenn., now Vanderbilt University’s College of Education and Human Development. She was also excited to meet one of the speakers at the ceremony, Sen. Al Gore Sr. 

DiSpirito had known some members of the Gore family, and her aunt had worked for the Democratic senator. “I introduced myself,” DiSpirito says, “and he said, ‘You come see me on Monday. I want you to work in my Carthage office.’ And so, on Monday I went to Carthage, and I started working on Tuesday.”

Much has been documented about the lives of members of Congress from the 20th century, but less is remembered about the role of staff. (The exception is the important work of the House and Senate historians, whose offices have collected oral histories on the topic.) In the 1950s it was common for a senator’s personal staff to number fewer than 10 — and, of course, there were no electronics or computers. 

“Down at the office in Carthage, I did not have an electric typewriter. In Washington, I had an IBM Executive typewriter. They were real........

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