Christian Dibblee

It took Christian Dibblee hardly any time at all to learn his way around the Capitol when he started his job last year as a legislative aide for the Senate Special Committee on Aging. That’s because as the son of a longtime Hill staffer, Dibblee and his younger brothers practically grew up around the marble halls and congressional offices. 

“When we were younger, we would play hide and seek in the Capitol when it was still, you know, wide open and you could do whatever you wanted in there,” he remembers.

{mosads}The University of Virginia grad’s father, Robert Dibblee, “worked his way from the bottom up,” eventually serving as chief of staff to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.). Now a lobbyist, his soon-to-be 25-year-old son is carving his own path in the nation’s capital 

“I looked at other things,” Dibblee says, “but in the end I kept having the political bug to come back and do this kind of work.” Dibblee, who worked as a congressional page as a high school junior, adds of Washington, “You have a ready-made job market on your front door step.”

These days, Dibblee tries to get out the door at least four days a week for strength training at the gym. He’s also an avid golfer and hockey fan.

A book lover, the D.C. area native devours non-fiction and biographies. He just finished up a tome about energy policy.

“I’m reading a biography of Catherine the Great right now,” he says before conceding with a laugh, “I know, I’m a huge nerd.”

But beyond the often-weighty subjects he reads about, Dibblee does find time for a little R&R, including “a lot of Netflix binge watching.” Many of his friends don’t know that he also enjoys opera, and tries to get tickets to shows at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts a few times a year.

Dibblee sees a law degree in his future and imagines he’ll be sticking around Capitol Hill for a long time. He likes the challenge of constantly mastering new issues, saying, “It’s all like a cauldron and it keeps getting stirred, and you need to keep up.

— Judy Kurtz