Mattis, for example, had a relationship with the company while he was still working in government and had explicit communication with them telling them he wante

Mattis, for example, had a relationship with the company while he was still working in government and had explicit communication with them telling them he wanted to help them get their product into the military. Getting hired onto the board 18 months after retiring from government (possibly the delay was due to being distracted by getting onto military contractor General Dynamics' board) is the other half of the back scratching arrangement that powers the corporate-political machine that rules the country. As to how they found him in the first place, presumably friends of friends of parents, their siblings, husbands, wives, etc. Her parents were in political circles in DC, they were good friends with CIA agents, father was an Enron VP, mother was a legislative director for some congressman. It's all very incestual in Washinton, kind of like old royalty.