Rep. Bill Orton

Bill Orton , now 57, was defeated by current Rep. Chris Cannon , R-Utah, largely because Utahns were upset that Orton could not stop fellow-Democrat Bill Clinton from forming the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument just before the 1996 election.

For a time he returned to work as a tax attorney. But a back injury suffered when he was in Congress has forced him into early retirement for physical reasons — and he says he spends most of his time being a dad to his two sons.

When he was in Congress, he was assaulted from behind by a Capitol furniture mover who mistook Orton for someone else who had bumped him in a crowded hall and had not apologized.

"He was a 6-foot-5 former football linebacker. He pleaded guilty to felony assault on a member of Congress and had three years probation for psychiatric treatment," Orton says.

"My back injury continued to get worse. I went back part time as a tax attorney, then I had to completely retire from all practice," he says.

He says he does not miss politics at all. "It was never my intention to have a career in politics. When I ran for office, it was my intention to serve for a short period and go back into private life."

He did run unsuccessfully for governor in 1992 against Mike Leavitt. But he says that's "because nobody else was running" among Democrats. "Rather than have no one on the ballot, I agreed to run. I feel people should at least have a choice."

About Congress, he says, "I don't miss the partisan fighting. I do miss my friends, and I miss working on issues. I was a policy wonk and really got into issues.... I don't miss campaigning or trying to raise money."