切尔西·克林顿：不负家族之名

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，避开。

2.debut:初次登台；implausible:难以置信的；television correspondent:电视记者。2011年切尔西·克林顿加盟美国国家广播公司（NBC，全名National Broadcasting Company），被安排在NBC晚间新闻“Make a Difference”单元。

3. averse:反对的，不愿意的，media-averse指切尔西·克林顿不愿意在媒体前过度曝光；stint: 原意指定额，定量，文中指持续一段时期的工作或实践、生活。

4. keen:敏捷的，敏锐的；ballerina:芭蕾舞女演员；live broadcast:现场直播；transmit：播送，广播；American Forces Network:简称AFN，美军网络。

5. emerge into: 显露于，出现于；studiously：故意地，注意地。

6. board meeting:董事会会议；fundraising events and receptions:募款活动及招待会；Clinton Foundation:克林顿基金会，克林顿作为第42任美国总统在第二任期结束时建立的基金会，是一个全球性非政府的组织,在全世界有八百多个工作人员和志愿者；star-studded:明星汇集的。

7. flurry of activities:一系列活动；philanthropic：慈善的；well-remunerated:报酬丰厚的；highprofile:备受瞩目的，知名度高的。

8 . recognisable:可辨识的，认得出来的；ubiquitous: 无处不在的。

9.inadver tently:不经意地，漫不经心地；purposely:用心地，有意地。文中两词形成对比，意指切尔西决定转变过去对媒体的回避态度，开始用心经营她的公众生活。

10. campaign:参加竞选活动；relentlessly:无间断地、不懈地；decline:谢绝，拒绝。

11. outside of:除了；advocacy:宣传，倡导。

12. campaign trail:竞选过程，竞选活动。

13. academia:学术界。

14.hound:跟踪，追逐；paparazzi:狗仔队；du jour：〈法〉当今的，本日的。

15. Elton John:艾尔顿·约翰，英国摇滚明星，被誉为“英国乐坛常青树”；Richard Gere:理查·基尔，美国著名电影演员；Aids foundation gala:艾滋病基金晚会；Barry Diller:巴里·迪勒，美国影视界巨子，曾任派拉蒙影片公司董事长，现任IAC/InterActiveCorp（美国互动公司）总裁。

16. annual remuneration:年薪，年度报酬；stock options:职工优先认股权。

17. discard:丢弃，放弃；reclusive:深居简出的，封闭的；close-knit:关系密切的，联系紧密的；veteran:经验丰富的，老练的。

18. beneficiary:受益者，受惠者。

19.raised eyebrows:皱起眉头，意指吃惊或质疑；newsroom:新闻部，编辑部；cutbacks:裁员，削减；shy away from:避开，回避。

20. political dynasties:政治家族，政治王朝;commonplace:司空见惯的;step down:下台，辞职；secretary of state:（美）国务卿。

21. intriguing:有趣的；scenario: 情节，场景。