By Lucretia Hughes Klucken
NEW YORK — The Office of Hillary Rodham Clinton is searching for an unpaid college intern who can demonstrate a “high level of professionalism and discretion,” language that immediately sent social media users back nearly three decades to one of the most infamous presidential scandals in American history.
Are the Clintons looking for another Monica?
The position is officially assigned to Hillary Clinton’s New York office, not former President Bill Clinton’s personal staff. Nevertheless, placing the words “Clinton,” “intern” and “discretion” in the same job announcement was guaranteed to attract attention.
According to the Daybook job posting, the intern would work from Sept. 9 through Nov. 13 at the Clinton office on Madison Avenue in New York City.
Applicants must be undergraduate students, work between 25 and 29 hours per week on a hybrid schedule and provide proof that they will receive academic credit.
The position pays nothing and provides no employee benefits.
The intern’s responsibilities would include conducting research, preparing briefing memorandums, transcribing speeches, managing mail, maintaining archives, scheduling staff and providing logistical assistance at events.
In addition to discretion and professionalism, applicants are expected to possess strong writing, research and communication skills, a diligent work ethic and a positive attitude.
Those qualifications sound routine for a position involving former national political figures. The Clinton name, however, makes the language impossible to separate from history.
Bill Clinton’s relationship with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky became public in 1998, leading to a federal investigation and his impeachment by the House on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. The Senate later acquitted him, allowing him to complete his second presidential term.
Clinton initially denied having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky before later acknowledging an improper relationship. The scandal produced years of investigations, legal battles, public humiliation and questions about the imbalance of power between a sitting president and a 22-year-old intern.
Lewinsky has since become an advocate against bullying and public shaming. She has also spoken about how the enormous power difference affected the relationship and the public consequences she endured.
That history explains why the new job announcement quickly became the subject of online ridicule.
One social media user joked that Bill Clinton had “lost intern privileges.” Others questioned what the foundation meant by “discretion” and asked whether applicants should be concerned about repeating history.
Bill Clinton’s office is not advertising for an unpaid intern in this particular listing. His team is seeking a paid “special projects associate,” offering an annual salary between $50,000 and $55,000.
That position also reportedly calls for professionalism and discretion while requiring the employee to prepare agendas, edit briefing materials and coordinate activities between Clinton’s personal office and the Clinton Foundation.
The legitimate question surrounding Hillary Clinton’s internship may have less to do with Monica Lewinsky and more to do with why a wealthy and influential political organization expects a college student to provide as many as 29 hours of skilled labor each week without receiving a paycheck.
Academic credit does not cover rent, groceries, transportation or tuition.
Unpaid political internships routinely favor students whose families can afford to support them while they work for free. Those without financial backing may be locked out of the same networking opportunities, no matter how talented or hardworking they are.
The Clinton Foundation describes its mission as creating economic opportunity and helping people succeed. Asking a young person to perform research, writing, scheduling, data management and event work without compensation does not appear to provide much economic opportunity for the intern.
No, the posting is not evidence that the Clintons are searching for “another Monica.” The position is in Hillary Clinton’s office, and the requirement for discretion is standard for employees working around prominent public figures.
But politics is also about judgment.
Given Bill Clinton’s history, someone inside the Clinton operation should have anticipated exactly what would happen when the organization advertised for an unpaid intern possessing a “high level of professionalism and discretion.”
The internet did not miss the irony.
Neither should anyone else.
Original article
Comments