The Big Issue – August 20, 2018

IN 1996

THE YEAR

CHELSEA

CLINTON

TURNS 16...

A mass shooting sees 16

pupils and a teacher killed

at Dunblane, Scotland

/Braveheartis awarded

Best Picture at the

Oscars / Bill Clinton

is re-elected as

US president

Clockwise from top: Visiting Nelson Mandela in Cape Town, 1997; With Pope John Paul II in

Denver, 1993; with mum Hillary and grandmother Dorothy at her 2010 wedding to Marc Mezvinsky

When my grandmother was 14 she was told she had to

startsupportingherself,soshegotajobandgotherself

through high school, graduating with honours.She was so

determinedandwentontocreateahomeofhopeandloveformy

motherandherbrother.Shewasverywisebutshewassomuch

funtobearoundaswell.Iwishshecouldhavegottoknowher

great-grandchildren. But I find it very moving that she was born

beforewomenhadtherighttovote,andlivedlongenoughtosee

herdaughterentertheracetobepresident.

My16-year-oldselfwouldbeverysurprisedthatI’msuch

apublicpersonnow.Iusedtobeaveryprivatepersonand

expectedtoleadaveryprivatelife.Itwaspartlybecauseofmy

grandmotherIbecameamorepublicperson.SheoncetoldmeI

wasChelseaClintonandtherewasnothingIcoulddoaboutthat.

So I could either do something positive with the inevitable attention

orIcouldliveinasmallerwayandlearntobearwhateverPage

Sixwasgoingtosayaboutmyratherboringlife.Mymothertold

metotakeseriouscriticismseriously;it’simportanttobeopen

andreceptivetothethoughtsofyourfamily,yourfriends,people

whocareaboutyou.It’sequallyimportantnottobecurtailedby

thecriticismofbullieswhodon’tknowyou.

IfIcouldgobacktoanytimeinmylife...AmIgoingto

give the answer that every woman gives?It’s when my children

wereborn.I’dalwayshopedtobeamum,partlybecauseI’mso

closetomyownmother.Thatmomentofpureloveandgratitude

andjoy.I’veneverfeltanythinglikethatagainandnurturingthat

bond has been the best part of my life.

She Persisted Around the Worldby Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by

Alexandra Boiger (Philomel Press, £12.99), is out now. Chelsea Clinton

is also appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival; edbookfest.co.uk

Interview: Jane Graham @janeannie

Photo: Maria Melin/ABC via Getty Images

Photo by Barbara Kinney via FilmMagic Gaylon Wampler/Sygma via Getty Images

show up. But looking back I’m so grateful, and I feel this so deeply,
that when it happened to me in Washington, it was these older
men saying these mean things to a 12-year-old girl. I mean, it was
crazy. Why were these old men picking on me? That said nothing
about me and a whole lot about them. Something clearly hadn’t
gone right for them in their lives and they were now trying to bully
achild.Sothathelpedmeunderstandearlyinmylifethatwhen
we’rebeingverballyabusedbyotherpeople,it’snotaboutwhowe
are, it’s all about the bullies.
I miss my grandmother Dorothy so much. I talk a lot about
her to both of my children [she died in 2011, aged 92]. She was a
huge part of my life and who I am now. She had a life I couldn’t
imagine. She was born to teenage parents who struggled to be
parents. They abandoned her for the first time when she was three
and then when she was eight they basically gave up on her and her
much younger sister and put them on a train from Chicago to
Los Angeles to live with their grandparents, who were harsh
at best.