A while back, when I was writing a piece about California’s races for Senate and governor, I was struck by how often the candidates talked about their pasts — both boasting about their own and questioning each others’. The pillar of Republican Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina’s résumé is her time in the business world; she speaks often (as does her opponent, Barbara Boxer) about her tenure as Hewlett-Packard’s CEO. But Fiorina actually made a name for herself during the ’90s telecom boom as an executive at a company called Lucent. Wondering why you’ve never heard of it or seen it featured in Fiorina’s campaign ads? Fortune’s Scott Woolley explains.
Correction: This post originally misidentified Fiorina as a former CEO of Lucent. She was president of the global service providers division.