The Hill's 50 Most Beautiful People

Age: 46
Hometown: Greenwich, Conn.
Political party: Democratic
Relationship status: Married

Buried in Rep. Jim Himes’s (D-Conn.) long list of accomplishments — he’s a former nonprofit executive, Wall Street banker, Rhodes scholar, Harvard rower and on and on — is this important nugget, at least for the purposes of the 50 Most Beautiful People list: He was once a model for Polo Ralph Lauren.

Now, we’re not talking Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.)-level modeling — no Cosmopolitan centerfolds — but Himes did spend some time in college earning extra cash appearing in photos for the most American of clothiers. Famous fashion photographer Bruce Weber spotted him at a boathouse on the Charles River, and soon thereafter Himes went in front of the camera at a shoot on Martha’s Vineyard. The congressman laughs about it these days.

“I worked very briefly with a local agency on local stuff,” he says, “but I was not quote-unquote a model.”

Himes is more likely to define himself as a politician simply trying to balance work, family and personal health. He feels strongly about reserving at least 30 minutes every day for a run on the National Mall or a swim in the House members’ gym. He continues to row every once in a while, too, at the river near his house. But on weekends Himes concentrates on making up for lost time with his wife and two daughters, ages 12 and 10.

Himes has taken a liking to Twitter, deciding early on that it’s a good platform to reveal the more informal daily goings-on of his life as a congressman. One recent tweet reported that the Democratic Cloakroom was out of Mountain Dew. “A nation at risk,” he wrote.

“People really hunger for an authentic voice out there,” he says. “It is a little risky, of course, but I have a little fun with it.”

— Kris Kitto

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