Sociologist Robert Groves interrupted his academic career 3 years ago to direct the Census Bureau on the eve of its massive decennial count. The largest peacetime mobilization in U.S. history-600,000 people knocking on 47 million doors from the Aleutians to Key West-was so successful that Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike expressed chagrin when Groves announced last week that he would be leaving the agency in August. "His tenure is proof that appointing good people makes a big difference," said Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), chair of the House of Representatives committee that oversees the bureau. "He was just what the doctor ordered," said Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), who leads the equivalent panel in the Senate.
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