The Hill's 50 Most Beautiful People

Age: 29
Hometown: Los Angeles
Political party: Democratic
Relationship status: Single

If there’s one thing Hannah Kim knows how to do, it’s how to keep busy.

The communications director for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is a bit of a fitness nut. 

She swims every morning from 6 to 7 a.m. On Saturdays, she plays tennis at the Capitol Hill Tennis Club. She’s recently taken up Zoomba on Sundays. And during the winter, she works out to her large collection of P90X DVDs.

“[Exercise] is my only outlet to decompress, de-stress,” Kim says. “If I get home at 10 o’clock, I would still [be working out].” 

She seems to have no trouble staying fit. Kim lives a few floors above a Whole Foods and describes herself as a pescetarian. Her parents nicknamed her “Shrimp Killer” after her love of seafood.

While in grad school at George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, she learned of the Korean War Veterans Recognition Act, sponsored by then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). It piqued her interest and led to a new job.

“In our history books, I didn’t really learn much about South Korean history or the Korean War,” Kim says. “I really wanted to do something for Korean War veterans to recognize them … They didn’t get the fanfare that the WWII veterans received.” 

She began lobbying for the bill and, as Rangel is a veteran of the Korean War, she targeted his office heavily (or, as she put it, “[bugged] the heck out of them”). In 2008, Rangel introduced a House companion bill, which was written into law in the next year.  Her efforts so impressed Rangel’s staff that they offered her a job, and she’s been working for the veteran ever since.

— Sterling C. Beard

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