PLP 08 Profile: Bryan Rhode

Name:  Bryan M. Rhode  
Age:  33
Born:  Portsmouth Virginia, raised in Springfield Virginia (my parents have lived in the same house for 28 years!)
Current Digs:  Just moved to the country (Goochland), but work in the best city in the Commonwealth (Richmond).
Occupation:  Lawyer, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney.
Favorite part about the job:  Helping clean up the city I love.  Trying cases is pretty fun too.
Your first job ever?  Busboy at Bob's Big Boy, definitely a character builder.
Favorite book?  Don't have just one, but topping the list are Mila 18, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and A Country Such as This.
Favorite movie?  Seabiscut.
Comfort food?  Johnnie Walker Red Label (more calories and certainly more comforting than food).
What's in your car CD player right now?  Freakonomics and Dave Matthews.  Lots of Dave Matthews.
Next journey?   The Greenbrier.
Favorite Virginia vacation spot?  The River - most relaxing place on earth.
First political memory?  First memory I have of really wanting to get involved in politics was during the 2000 Republican Presidential Primary.  I was in the military, deployed, and very anxious that I couldn't to do anything to help John McCain.
Whom do you admire and why?  Though I’m reaching back quite a ways with this one: I admire Teddy Roosevelt.  Warrior, statesman, reformer, author and brilliant politician.  There are not many like him today.  He was a child that overcame much to become the embodiment of what a leader should be.
Best advice you ever got?  As I was about to leave for Officer Candidates School, a friend of mine who had already been, advised, “put your head down and keep swinging 'til the bell rings.”  I’ve found it to be a great approach to many challenges in life - including golf.
If you could have dinner with any one currently living, whom would it be and why?  John McCain.  He is a hero of mine and has been for many years.  I would like to get a sense of where his enormous reservoir of personal courage comes from.
Describe a perfect day.   A long, hard day of skiing followed by a cold beer.  And a hot tub.
One thing most people might be surprised to learn about you?  I was a gymnast, and yes, it’s embarrassing.
Ambition, political or otherwise?   Before entering the political realm, I want to be successful and respected in something outside of the political realm.