W
henIwas16Iwasanerd.Iwaspreoccupied
withmyreadingandmystudies.Ialsowentto
balleteverydayafterschool,andIwasquite
seriousaboutit.Irememberclearlymymother
comingintomyroomintheeveningtellingmeIshouldn’tbedoing
myhomework,IshouldbeoutwithmyfriendsandIneededabit
morebalanceinmylife.Shewascompletelycorrect,ofcourse.
ButIwassocuriousandlovedschool.
I’dliketogobacktomy12-year-old
self,movingfromArkansastothe
WhiteHouse,soworriedthatI’dnever
make any new friends.My two best
friends, both called Elizabeth, came to stay
foraweekorsoduringthosefirstmonths.
Andforthefirsttimemyparentsletme
have a phone in my bedroom so I could call
my friends whenever I wanted. So when I
wasn’tdoingschoolworkoratballet,Iwas
onthephonetalkingtomyfriendsbackin
LittleRock.Wetalkedalot.Myparentsdid
everythingtheycouldtoallowmeto
nurturethosefriendshipsthroughmy
teenageyearsinWashington.Theywere
veryimportanttome,andthey’restillmy
closestfriends.Iwasabridesmaidatboth
theirweddings.We’vealwaysbeendeeplyconnectedtoeachother.
Iwasneverresentfulaboutanyrestrictionsonmylife
whenIwasateenager.Idon’tfindresentmentahelpfulor
comforting emotion. I always understood that the secret service
hadajobtodoandIrespectedthatandrespectedthem.WhenI
hadtohaveprotectionIunderstoodwhy.InfactIwasquitegrateful
tothesecretservicestafandthewaytheytreatedmyfriends.
Particularlytheboys,whowerefascinatedbythem.Theywere
always so patient, answering endless questions about training
andweapons,andwhattheywoulddoinallthediferentsituations
myfriendsdreamtupforthem.
I watched The West Wing when it came out and I remember
thinking I w ish politics rea lly operated like that.Especially
today. The idea of general agreements over shared goals and intense
debate about how to reach those goals. Today in my country we
don’t have a sense of shared ends – it’s quite the opposite of that
at this precise moment.
If you met the 16-year-old Chelsea today you’d find her
friendly – I was always very friendly. I understood it was my
responsibility to help people overcome their preconceptions about
me. I wanted to show that I’m not snobbish or hoity-toity. I was a
blend of outgoing and quite geeky. I wasn’t shy or reticent, but I
was not outwardly confident either. I’ve always had a strong sense
of myself inside but I’ve never been brash or loud.
I was very aware of comments about my appearance in
the media when I was young. I’ve thought about this a lot,
especially as bullying is on the rise, and we have a president who
is normalising hate. I was picked on at elementary school by some
not very nice people – generally boys – who made fun of my
appearance or locked me in my locker to see if state police would
LETTER TO MY YOUNGER SELF
Chelsea
Clinton
Presidential progeny
Above: Chelsea looks on as her
father is inaugurated as President
of the United States in January
1993 Below: Watched by her
dad as she scatters petals at a
Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial
in New Delhi in 2000Photo: Leif Skoogfors/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty ImagesPhoto: T.C. Malhotra