A former Notre Dame football player under coach Knute Rockne, Nordy Hoffmann looked like a sergeant at arms. During the 1930s he had been an aide to Philip Murray, president of the United Steelworkers of America and head of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). Murray sent Hoffmann to Washington to reorganize lobbying efforts for the Steelworkers. His activities as a lobbyist and his fund raising for Democratic congressional candidates led to his appointment to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1967. As a result of the associations he made during those years, Hoffmann was elected Senate Sergeant at Arms in 1975, which placed him in charge of Senate security, protocol, computers, and numerous other essential services.
Scholarly citation: "F. Nordy Hoffmann, Senate Sergeant at Arms, 1975–1981" Oral History Interviews, June 28 to August 30, 1988, Senate Historical Office, Washington, D.C.
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