<p>The OP was asking about “a political career” and “political networking.” Many of the responses have been about which schools produce the most influential people in Washington. Those are different things. Most politics in this country takes place outside of Washington—in the state capitals, in county seats, in cities and towns. It’s out of the ranks of that kind of non-DC-centric politics that most elected officials come, including the vast majority of elected officials who end up in Washington as Members of Congress, Senators, Presidents, and Vice-Presidents. That, to my mind, is what “a political career” is all about. In most cases you don’t get there by starting out in DC, and it’s your connections at the state and local level, not your connections in DC, that will move you up through the elected ranks.</p>
<p>A lot of the “most influential people in Washington” got there by virtue of public policy expertise, not through a “political career.” Concededly, there can be some overlap—Congressional staffs and high-ranking administration officials are political appointees and need to combine policy expertise with political savvy to get appointed and to survive and advance. But that’s a very different career path. If by “political career” the OP means elected office, then DC is almost certainly NOT the place to be, except perhaps for a brief stint as an intern or Congressional staffer to gain some insight into the legislative process, some public policy issues, and how the legislative and policy side interacts with the political calculus to determine where elected officials come out on issues. Don’t stay in DC too long, though, or you’ll be left in the dust by smart and hungry political rivals back in your home district who will be busy building their own political networks while you’re stuck in DC, and you may be tagged with the “carpetbagger” label when you finally do move back home. For that kind of career, it’s your connections in your own state and hometown that matter most, and the State U is just as good a place as Harvard or Georgetown—probably better— to burnish those credentials and build your own political network. </p>
<p>If instead by a “political career” the OP means policy wonk and Washington insider, then by all means head for Washington, picking up some shiny academic credentials from a top-tier school along the way. </p>
<p>For the record, here’s where Obama Cabinet and Cabinet/rank officials schooled and cut their teeth:</p>
<p>Office/ Undergrad / Grad-professional degree/ Political base-network</p>
<p>Secretary of State / Wellesley / Yale Law / Arkansas, DC & New York*
Treasury Secretary / Dartmouth / Johns Hopkins / DC & New York
Defense Secretary / William & Mary / Indiana & Georgetown / DC
Attorney General / Columbia / Columbia Law / DC
Interior Secretary / Colorado College / Michigan Law / Colorado*
Ag Secretary / Hamilton / Albany Law / Iowa*
Commerce Secretary / Yale / BU Law / Washington State*
Labor Secretary / Cal Poly Pomona / Southern Cal / California*
HHS Secretary / Trinity Washington / U Kansas / Kansas*
HUD Secretary / Harvard / Harvard / DC & New York
Transportation Secretary / Bradley / none / Illinois*
Energy Secretary / U Rochester / UC Berkeley / academia
Education Secretary / Harvard / none / Illinois
VA Secretary / West Point / Duke, National War College/ military
Homeland Security Secretary / Santa Clara / UVA Law / Arizona*
Council of Econ. Advisers Chair / William & Mary / MIT / academia
EPA Administrator / Tulane / Princeton / New Jersey
OMB Director / Princeton / LSE / DC
US Trade Representative / Austin College / UT-Austin Law/ Texas*
UN Ambassador / Stanford / Oxford / DC
Chief of Staff / Sarah Lawrence / Northwestern / DC & Illinois*
- indicates former elected official</p>
<p>Looks like two tracks, one for Washington insiders like Gates & Holder, the other for elected officials and/or state-local level administrators. For the DC insider track, going to an elite college seems to be de rigeur. For the up-through-politics track, educational backgrounds are all over the map, though interestingly many have law degrees from top-tier (not necessarily Ivy) law schools. A few people like Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel straddle both worlds.</p>