Chelsea Clinton considering politics: A look back on all the presidents’ kin
Chelsea Clinton tells Vogue she’s considering politics and kids, yet again stoking the public fascination with America’s royalty: all the presidents’ kin.
Chelsea Clinton considering politics, sparks renewed interest in former White House kin who follow in their parents' political footsteps. Here, Ms. Clinton speaks during a panel discussion regarding technologies for economic empowerment at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Sept. 22, 2011.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Chelsea Clinton’s interview with Vogue suggesting she’s changed her mind and may be open to running for public office is hardly a surprise. All the presidents' children have always been a magnet for public fascination and attention, and plenty of them end up in – or on the periphery of – politics. (Think of those children of presidential politics who have not faded into obscurity: Caroline Kennedy and her brief flirtation with running for the US Senate and her endorsement of President Obama; Mary and Liz Cheney who have been active in Republican politics; not to mention "W" son of the first President Bush).
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Senior editor
Clara Germani is a senior editor for the Monitor, based in Boston. She handles in-depth projects, or cover stories, for the weekly print magazine and is the editor of the Monitor's parenting blog, "Modern Parenthood."
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Gallery Babies in politics
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White House families are the closest thing to American royalty. Presidential family-watching can be great relief from partisan politics if you’re not a hard-core political junkie. The Obama girls – the oldest of which, Malia, is already sparking speculation she'll be stumping for dad – are as interesting to watch as Prince William and bride Kate.
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Likewise, in 1993 when Chelsea became the first child to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since 1981 when another frizzy red-headed kid in braces, Amy Carter, left the White House, she was as fun to read about as Princess Diana was at the time.
A story I wrote at the time about the obsession with Chelsea quoted Bill Trice, a Little Rock attorney and a Clinton family friend whose son was close to Chelsea since preschool: "Chelsea is not newsworthy. Even positive press is, in a way, an intrusion into living a normal life."
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