"I ran in 1978," said Bush, "I came in second in a two-man race. The vice president won, as did Dan Lungren. Welcome back." 

Before becoming the conservative Republican Congressman Lungren is today, came the inspiration to take on the feats that he has in his life. 

"My mom and my dad were very involved volunteering for the Nixon campaign," Lungren said his initial exposure to politics. 

It was when his father, a physician in Long Beach, Calif., decided to go on the road with the then presidential hopeful Richard Nixon that politics truly became a family matter. 

"Back then it wasn't like it is today," the congressman said. "My father would tell us what Nixon was doing and two days later we would watch it on television." 

Like the majority of people interested in political life, Lungren had to put in his time doing the administrative work before heading to the big leagues, stuffing envelopes and made phone calls foir campaigns while a high school student. 

Despite his early exposure to politics, Lungren left for Notre Dame University initially believing that the end of his career path would lead to practicing medicine. However, it was in college that his desire to obtain an M.D. faded. 

"I thought I was going to be a doctor," he joked, "but then organic chemistry came along." 

In the end, the congressman graduated with a bachelor's degree, and spent time in the political circuits in California before earning a law degree from Georgetown Law School. He then began mobilizing his own campaign strategy for a seat in the House of Representatives. 

He described the many letters offering him lower positions on the political spectrum, but no other position would satisfy him at the time. 

"I remember people used to tell me to wait until I was older," he said. "They used to tell me to run for the school board." 

At the age of 29, Lungren lost the election for the House, two years later he tried again, this time successfully. His familial motivation to pursue a position as a public servant continually gave him the vitality to push on. Even though Lungren chose not to take the road his father did to medical school, his influence still bled into his political life. 

"The idea of serving others that I had seen go to my dad was important to me," Lungren said.

With 10 years on the Hill and countless votes on the House floor under his belt, Lungren accepted the position as California's attorney general. Though he made the transition happily, the congressman speaks with a sense of longing for the simpler days, before Sept. 11, 2001. 

"In the '80s, when we were dealing with classified information about communist movements in South America, we couldn't give all the information out," Lungren said. "But that was outside the country and somewhere 'over there,' now it is in our backyards." 

Following two terms as California's attorney general, Lungren lost his position in 1998. Dissatisfied with being out of the political limelight, he began campaigning for California's governorship, against Gov. Gray Davis. After striking out once again, Lungren withdrew from political life, and put his law degree to use in a lobbying firm. 

Lungren's political charisma may have departed for a short time between 1999-2001, but it quickly flushed its way back in on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. As the United States came under terrorist attack, something switched inside Lungren. 

"The whole reason I got back into public service was because of 9/11," the congressman said. "It seemed like my best opportunity to get back into politics." 

Following that impulse, Lungren began his search for an opportunity to get back in the House.

Instead of running in his hometown Long Beach County, however, Lungren ran in Sacramento, another predominately conservative district. After taking a majority of the vote, the congressman found himself beginning once again as a freshman congressman, this time at the age of the 58. 

Now in office again, Lungren has gotten back into the swing of things on the Hill, though he said a great deal has changed. 

"Having all three branches in the hands of my party is very different," the congressman said in regards to the most obvious change since his last run in the House. 

Not only have the parties changed, but the role of the United States has as well. With new threats of domestic terror has come Homeland Security, and national security is one of Lungren's most important issues. 

"Now, people have a sense of this threat that is terrorism, but not the threat that was 26 years ago," said Lungren, comparing people's unquestionable faith in the war against communism and the more shaky morale concerning the war on terror. 

"People then had seemed to understand that, internalize that. People are not as certain with war on terrorism." 

He said two of the main struggles with Homeland Security are the contested amount of information that can be disclosed to the people, and how to work cooperatively with the other protective government agencies. 

Beyond the initial difficulties, the congressman voiced a great deal of opinions on what needs to be done regarding Homeland Security reformations. 

"What I would be looking for is for the committee to collectively create a rational risk assessment, which would allow us to make financial decisions accordingly," said Lungren. This means being able to divide the money given to communities around the nation in a more equitable and appropriate manner. 

Beyond the congressman's passion for national security, lays his opinions on such hot-button issues as Social Security, and the war in Iraq. On both fronts, Lungren stands firmly behind Bush's policies. 

"The Social Security is in trouble," Lungren said. "It fails to recognize that if the private economy goes south the government won't be able to tax at the level that is necessary to sustain Social Security." 

To the congressman, it is more than just the economic reasons that are bothersome, but also the fact that he believes that the financial futures of citizens should be taken out of the hands of politicians and put into the hands of citizens. 

When it comes to foreign relations, more specifically Iraq, Lungren believes the end result is one of optimism. 

"The road to the exit is only one road, and that is through success and victory," said the congressman.  "We can't afford to have those terrorists succeed there and us fail." 

During the next four years he anticipates great successes in the Bush administration, and more specifically in the Middle East. 

"We will create the opportunity for changing face in the Middle East." Lungren said. 

In 1978 President Jimmy Carter welcomed Lungren to the U.S. House of Representatives, with his young son Jeff by his side, beginning his official public service. Twenty-six years later the congressman was welcomed by Bush, with his grandson in hand. Great political changes have occurred since the congressman's first round in the House, but he anticipates the second round will be equally satisfying.