Posted 2001-11-05
Esther Shin is a twenty-four-year-old Columbia University graduate from Port Jefferson, Long Island. Until recently, she worked as a research assistant to a neurologist at Mount Sinai Hospital. "I wrote my letter of resignation yesterday," she said proudly last week. She was enjoying the early hours of her new career—that of spiting her parents, who apparently want her to be a doctor ("I'm Asian," Esther says, by way of explanation). And so she has considered, abstractedly, making a living as a forensic pathologist, or a large-animal veterinarian ("I could marry a ranch farmer and take care of cows and write cowboy poetry"), or an organist ("I'd like to try my hand at music"). Or else politics. Not long ago, Esther's friend Vivian, a student at Columbia, who knew of Esther's parent-spiting ambitions, came across an E-mail notice from the political-science department at Columbia. Vivian forwarded it to Esther:
Bill Clinton's office, located at 55 West 125th Street, is seeking interns in its understaffed scheduling department. Intern will answer phones, take requests, and follow through on such requests. Also will be responsible for light computer work and keeping track of calendar. Flexible days/hours. For consideration, please fax resume to: David Slade, Deputy Director of Scheduling.
"Vivian knows how much I like President Clinton," Esther explained. "I find him amusing. His antics—and the fact that everyone got so worked up over them." She began to think about applying for a stint in the Harlem office.
The E-mail also reached Lindsey Lincoln, a twenty-five-year-old senior in the political-science department at Columbia. She faxed over her résumé. A few days later, an assistant to David Slade called her in for an interview. She wore a suit, flats, and a gold-and-silver necklace, and felt, as people often do at job interviews, a little overdressed.
"Security was very tight," Lindsey said. "People were dressed professionally, but it was relaxed and comfortable." She was there for about fifteen minutes, during which she interviewed with Slade's assistant and met three staffers. Clinton was out of town, although there were photographs of him everywhere.
"He was generally referred to as 'he,' " Lindsey said. "I was told I would be in contact with him. In general, if he needed assistance and his assistant was busy I would be asked to do anything basic. The guy said Mr. Clinton might need help in his kitchen, and I would do that. Filing, copying, helping to set up cameras if he was doing an interview. Mainly fielding phone calls in the scheduling office. He also said that sometimes people will call with ridiculous requests to see Mr. Clinton or invite him to something. Then someone serious will call. You need to know the difference, yet respond equally."
A few days later, Lindsey was offered the job—no pay, about fifteen hours a week. She weighed the pros and cons. On the one hand, it was a great résumé- builder and a wonderful opportunity for someone who had, as she did, foreign- policy aspirations. On the other hand, her schedule was busy: she had a job already, at a nonprofit group devoted to sending medical supplies to Cuba, and she was applying to graduate school. What's more, the Clinton internship was, as she put it, "a little basic," her résumé being deeper, in her estimation, than most of the others must have been. Before enrolling at Columbia, she had managed a restaurant in Lenox, Massachusetts, and pursued a career as a glassblower.
After some deliberation, Lindsey decided to turn the job down. "I just didn't have the time," she said.
Esther, in the end, did not even apply for the internship. She said that in the days after she learned about it her opinion of Clinton had undergone a change. She had been listening to Howard Stern on the radio, and heard Stern deride Clinton for ignoring him backstage at a recent benefit concert at Madison Square Garden for the victims of the World Trade Center attack. Stern was attired in a variation on his Fartman suit. "Bill blew him off," Esther said. Now she was thinking of applying for an internship on the Howard Stern show instead.
The job in Bill Clinton's Harlem office is still open.
