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 If it wasn't for his wife, Susanna, Jack Quinn might still be sitting in an apartment without furniture.
The couple first caught sight of each other when Susanna, who was a real estate agent in 2002, had clients who worked at Jack's lobbying firm, Quinn Gillespie & Associates. Jack frequently walked through the lobby and Susanna often caught sight of him, admitting now that she thought he was "the sexiest man she'd ever seen." Jack, who served as White House counsel in the Clinton administration, had recently gotten separated and needed a place to live so he called the pretty real estate agent he noticed in the lobby and asked if she could help him find a place to live. Susanna agreed and when she found out he had nothing to put in his apartment, she chuckled and thought, "You're old enough, you should have furniture!" She ended up helping Jack furnish the three-bedroom apartment in Bethesda, Md. she found for him. "I told him he could do it alone or I would help but I would charge an obscene amount of money !" she said with a laugh, since she never ended up charging him. Along the way, Susanna began to realize she was falling for Jack, and became quite clever in arranging meetings. "I'd say, 'Oh hey, I found a place I think you'd like, you should come look at it after work,'" she said. "I knew he would end up saying, 'Oh would you want to get a bite to eat?'" The twosome were friends for about five months before they began dating. When Jack asked Susanna out on their first Valentine's Day, she responded she had already had a date that night— with her father. Susanna quickly added he could join the two of them and he did.  "But he invited me to New York City the following night," Susanna said dreamily, recalling the day. "He took me to 'The Producers' and I just remember thinking, 'I'm so in love with him I could just die now.'" The two married in 2006 and six years later, Jack keeps that romance alive. And he is always the gentleman. After a dinner of salmon, butternut squash and risotto Susanna had cooked at home with this reporter, Jack rose to clear the table. Susanna and Jack are one of Washington's most famous and recognizable couples. They are regulars at high-profile social events, and in a town full of serious people, Susanna and Jack are known for telling stories and sharing a laugh with each other and other bold-faced names. The two are involved in many charitable organizations in Washington. "Jack is very into education," Susanna said. "We support Cornerstone Schools as well as Share Our Strength and the Center City Consortium." The couple also holds a special place in their hearts for Children's Hospital. The medical facility helped their good friends, Fox News Channel's Bret Baier and his wife Amy with their son Paul, who needed two open heart surgeries before he turned one. The Quinns certainly know how Washington works. Susanna, the granddaughter of former Sen. Mike Monroney (D-Okla.), has written for The Huffington Post and is now working on a novel. Media outlets regularly go to Jack for his take on which way the political winds are blowing. Yet, they focus on putting family ahead of politics.  Their home is decorated with family photos on nearly every wall (arranged by Susanna), nestled between paintings by her 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn.
A sixth grader, Jocelyn enjoys being in a political family. During dinner, she noted how much she loves House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) though makes it clear she is not fazed by chatting with some of the most powerful people in the country. And there is a new Quinn on the way as Susanna and Jack announced late last year they are expecting a baby boy this spring. "I'd love to name him Jack," Susanna said. "It'd be fun to scream up the stairs, 'Jack Quinn! It's time for dinner!'" Jack prefers to name him Storm, however. "[Jack is] a bit of a hippie," Susanna said. "If we had a daughter, he'd want to name her Sunshine." — Kate Oczypok
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