Bobbie Kilberg (Bobbie Greene at the time) began a career in Washington as a White House fellow initially aiding Ken Cole, deputy assistant to President Richard Nixon, but soon started working with John Ehrlichman. She had written her law school thesis on education on the Navajo reservation, and subsequently she was one of the few people at the White House with any knowledge or experience with native peoples. Although she was a young White House fellow at the time, Kilberg was an important part of the White House's push for Blue Lake legislation.