Philip Sherwell

【 C 】Chelsea Clinton, Living Up to the Family Name

She was a young woman who long shunned1 the cameras, but on December 12th, 2011, Chelsea Clinton made her debut in an implausible new role–as a television correspondent.2

The once media-averse daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton began a three-month stint as a contributor to the NBC network with a segment about a childrens charity in Arkansas,3 where she grew up when her father was governor.

Two days later, Miss Clinton, a keen ballerina, will host a live broadcast of The Nutcracker to be transmitted through the American Forces Network to US troops serving overseas.4

At the age of 31, the former first daughter is emerging into the national spotlight after years of studiously avoiding it.5

She recently attended her first board meeting at a leading internet media company, is a regular at fundraising events and receptions for her favourite causes, including a party in Londonfor her fathers Clinton Foundation, and hosted a star-studded 65th birthday party in Hollywood for the former president.6

This flurry of activity–much of it philanthropic but, in the case of her new board position, well-remunerated–would not be unusual for the offspring of many high-profile parents.7 But for Miss Clinton, it marks a dramatic transition as she has finally accepted, if not quite yet embraced, the role of a public figure.

And it was not her instantly-recognisable and often apparently ubiquitous parents who finally inspired her to step out of the shadows.8 Rather, she has told friends that it was conversations with her late maternal grandmother, Dorothy Rodham, who provided the catalyst for her to stop “pretending she was not Chelsea Clinton”.

“I took what she [her grandmother] said seriously–that I had led an inadvertently public life for a long time and maybe it was time to start leading a purposely public life,”9 she told The New York Times in what is believed to be her first media interview.

Even when Miss Clinton campaigned relentlessly for her mother during the 2008 presidential campaign, she refused to speak to the media, famously declining to answer a question from a nine-yearold “kid reporter” for a childrens news service.10

But Mrs Rodham, who died last month aged 92, gave the advice that is now shaping Miss Clintons new approach. “She told me being Chelsea Clinton had happened to me, and outside of my advocacy11 work and campaigning for my Mom, I wasnt doing enough in the world,” she said.

On the campaign trail12 for her mother, she drew large crowds, particularly on college campuses, and became an increasingly confident public speaker. She then returned to academia13, taking a masters degree in public health at Columbia and now pursuing a doctorate in public policy at New York University.

But her conversations with her grandmother about taking on a public role continued, even as she also wanted to focus on her marriage with her long-time boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky. Indeed, those chats were often at their most intense “when Marc and I were being hounded by the paparazzi for the silly reason du jour”14, she said. “As with every decision, I talked to my grandmother about it, and she told me what she had always told me that life is not about what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.”

Earlier this year, she greeted Elton John and Richard Gere at an Aids foundation gala also attended by Barry Diller, boss of the Internet media company IAC/InterActiveCorp.15 Soon afterwards, he asked her to join the board, with an annual remuneration of $50,000 and stock options of $250,000.16

But she had more ambitious plans for discarding her reclusive early adulthood and talked with her family, her close-knit circle of friends and veteran advisers of the family.17 The result was her contract with NBC News as a contributor to its “Making A Difference”series.

The IAC appointment and her new position with NBC have earned criticism in some quarters that Miss Clinton is the beneficiary18 of her famous name as much as her talent. There were raised eyebrows for the explanation given by NBC News president Steve Capus why, at a time of newsroom cutbacks, someone with no journalistic experience and who has spent most of her adult life shying away from the media has been signed.19

“Chelsea is a remarkable woman who will be a great addition to NBC News,” he said. “Given her vast experiences, its as though Chelsea has been preparing for this opportunity her entire life.”

In a country where political dynasties are commonplace, it has not been lost on some Democrat strategists that there will be no Clinton holding public office for first time in three decades when, as expected, Hillary steps down as secretary of state this year.20

Another intriguing scenario21 has been discussed by some Democrats in New York–that she might be persuaded to run for Congress. “Could the Democratic Party use someone like Chelsea Clinton?” asked Mr. Sheinkopf, the Democratic consultant. “Shes smart, shes charming, and shes got the last name Clinton.” ?

1. shun: 回避，避開(kāi)。

2.debut:初次登臺(tái)；implausible:難以置信的；television correspondent:電視記者。2011年切爾西·克林頓加盟美國(guó)國(guó)家廣播公司（NBC，全名National Broadcasting Company），被安排在NBC晚間新聞“Make a Difference”單元。

3. averse:反對(duì)的，不愿意的，media-averse指切爾西·克林頓不愿意在媒體前過(guò)度曝光；stint: 原意指定額，定量，文中指持續(xù)一段時(shí)期的工作或?qū)嵺`、生活。

4. keen:敏捷的，敏銳的；ballerina:芭蕾舞女演員；live broadcast:現(xiàn)場(chǎng)直播；transmit：播送，廣播；American Forces Network:簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)AFN，美軍網(wǎng)絡(luò)。

5. emerge into: 顯露于，出現(xiàn)于；studiously：故意地，注意地。

6. board meeting:董事會(huì)會(huì)議；fundraising events and receptions:募款活動(dòng)及招待會(huì)；Clinton Foundation:克林頓基金會(huì)，克林頓作為第42任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)在第二任期結(jié)束時(shí)建立的基金會(huì)，是一個(gè)全球性非政府的組織,在全世界有八百多個(gè)工作人員和志愿者；star-studded:明星匯集的。

7. flurry of activities:一系列活動(dòng)；philanthropic：慈善的；well-remunerated:報(bào)酬豐厚的；highprofile:備受矚目的，知名度高的。

8 . recognisable:可辨識(shí)的，認(rèn)得出來(lái)的；ubiquitous: 無(wú)處不在的。

9.inadver tently:不經(jīng)意地，漫不經(jīng)心地；purposely:用心地，有意地。文中兩詞形成對(duì)比，意指切爾西決定轉(zhuǎn)變過(guò)去對(duì)媒體的回避態(tài)度，開(kāi)始用心經(jīng)營(yíng)她的公眾生活。

10. campaign:參加競(jìng)選活動(dòng)；relentlessly:無(wú)間斷地、不懈地；decline:謝絕，拒絕。

11. outside of:除了；advocacy:宣傳，倡導(dǎo)。

12. campaign trail:競(jìng)選過(guò)程，競(jìng)選活動(dòng)。

13. academia:學(xué)術(shù)界。

14.hound:跟蹤，追逐；paparazzi:狗仔隊(duì)；du jour：〈法〉當(dāng)今的，本日的。

15. Elton John:艾爾頓·約翰，英國(guó)搖滾明星，被譽(yù)為“英國(guó)樂(lè)壇常青樹(shù)”；Richard Gere:理查·基爾，美國(guó)著名電影演員；Aids foundation gala:艾滋病基金晚會(huì)；Barry Diller:巴里·迪勒，美國(guó)影視界巨子，曾任派拉蒙影片公司董事長(zhǎng)，現(xiàn)任IAC/InterActiveCorp（美國(guó)互動(dòng)公司）總裁。

16. annual remuneration:年薪，年度報(bào)酬；stock options:職工優(yōu)先認(rèn)股權(quán)。

17. discard:丟棄，放棄；reclusive:深居簡(jiǎn)出的，封閉的；close-knit:關(guān)系密切的，聯(lián)系緊密的；veteran:經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的，老練的。

18. beneficiary:受益者，受惠者。

19.raised eyebrows:皺起眉頭，意指吃驚或質(zhì)疑；newsroom:新聞部，編輯部；cutbacks:裁員，削減；shy away from:避開(kāi)，回避。

20. political dynasties:政治家族，政治王朝;commonplace:司空見(jiàn)慣的;step down:下臺(tái)，辭職；secretary of state:（美）國(guó)務(wù)卿。

21. intriguing:有趣的；scenario: 情節(jié)，場(chǎng)景。