Stacy Parker Aab

Stacy Parker is just 18 years old and attending George Washington University when she starts as an intern in the office of George Stephanopolous. A native of Detroit, Stacy has always excelled at school, and she quickly falls into a routine riddled with varying levels of constant stress while she tries to do the best job ever and find her place in life and on the scene in Washington, DC. Over the years Stacy finishes her schooling and goes on to a staff position as the special assistant to Paul Begala all while becoming acquainted with President Clinton, Vernon Jordan, Rahm Emmanuel (on whom she has a crush), and a bevy of other players on the Washington, DC scene. When the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks, it changes everything that Stacy knows about her president, working in the White House and the dangers of any missteps, real or perceived, when dealing with powerful men.

This book really resonated with me because while Parker Aab does talk extensively about her life and experiences working in the White House and her interactions with powerful men- relevant because all women deal with this on varying scales and degrees- she also delves into and examines her personal life and what it was like for her to adjust to being a woman and what that meant in terms of being vulnerable, but also the power of it which she didn’t fully understand. She explores her expectations of men and relationships and the naive ideas that she had about both and what they may have stemmed from in her childhood. She speaks candidly about what it meant to be an African American woman dating and building a life in predominantly white world. Parker Aab presents her views clearly, and makes no attempts to hide the ways that she trusted in her government and the men around her, even when it makes her seem painfully naive.

Government Girl is told in a loosely chronological fashion with the author dipping back and forward in to time to provide further illumination and parallels to pertinent issues being discussed in the section. While I think the intention was to explain further the result was a bit distracting to keeping place within the story and keeping track of what was going on with different people and their presence in her life. Still, Parker Aab has recounted her experiences to create a riveting story which gives readers a backstage glance down the corridors of power from the point of view of one of its most vulnerable participants.

It never occurred to me when I was in high school or college that I could ever work in the White House. I think this is probably more because I didn’t plan to go in any direction that a DC internship would have led, but it was interesting to hear about people involved in this world at such a young age. Parker Aab was also heavily involved on the President’s advance staff and would travel to other countries ahead of time to prepare for a presidential stay- complete with close working relationships with the Secret Service, and all before she was 23. It’s easy to see why it took me only a few short sittings to get through this book because once I started reading her story, I just didn’t want to put it down.… (mais)

Heard the author interviewed on NPR and was intrigued by the two scenarios she portrayed- Bill Clinton hugging her a little too long and tightly on a veranda (a year and a half after Monica)and Vernon Jordan kissing her on the lips when he would greet her. Note that they had about a 40 year age gap. Picked up the book at the library. Not a bad book, but not great. The author was an 18 year old intern at the White House, first with George Stephanopoulos and then for Paul Begala. Also did advance work for the trips the President took abroad. Main point that I liked was her work ethic- even at such a young age, she was incredibly responsible, worked very hard and understood how her work and demeanor reflected on those she worked for. For those intrigued by the Clinton years and want somewhat of an inside scoop, you might want to check this book out.… (mais)

In the open and thoughtful Government Girl, author Stacy Parker Aab describes her years working in the Clinton White House—first as an intern for George Stephanopoulos while studying at George Washington University-- then as staff when she became Special Assistant to Paul Begala. The memoir reads exactly as one imagines Stacy’s experience to be: first a fresh, young wide-eyed 18-year-old becomes a White House intern. Powerful men [not many women about unfortunately] like President Clinton. George Stephanopoulos, Rahm Emanuel, Vernon Jordan are all in her midst. She ends up asking Jordan for a recommendation and has some interaction with the others. Nine years later, by the end of her experience, she doesn’t particularly enjoy her job which is more administrative than using her skills as a writer [been there/ done that] and the sparkle and luster have fallen off The White House after the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Although she doesn’t speak of sexism, there aren’t very many women in positions of power at all. Although in some of her stories on the road, she gets hit on by married Secret Service men and has an awkward encounter with the President in 2000 in Japan. She doesn’t speak of any contact with any women in particular besides some lower level staff members. This makes me sad and I hope that young women in the Obama White House aren’t experiencing the same thing but guess what? Many of the young guys [Rahm Emanuel from the Clinton White House] now work the Obama White House. It most likely is just that she worked in communications with George. She spoke of Dee Dee Meyers but Meyers did not stay very long. As an African-American, she also says that she faced no racism, which is fairly easy to believe for the Clinton White House.

Most of her challenges were due to her age and experience. How can a young woman be expected to take on these responsibilities? Stacy proved herself to the right people and had numerous unique and challenging experiences especially when she worked on the Advance Team and traveled with the President and his staff. She would go ahead to make sure the accommodations were just right: she traveled to Africa, Japan, and several other places including Steven Spielberg’s home in the Hamptons.

I wish Stacy had touched more on what she learned while in The White House instead of the day to day. After finishing the memoir, I was jealous of her experience and knew she did a lot of constituent outreach [which I’ve done on a local level]—by answering letters. She did say she was excited to be part of anything to do with The White House and its administration. And I know that many of her responsibilities allowed her to take on greater challenges later on. However, I still didn’t have enough of a grasp on her learning curve during her nine years there. But she chose Government Girl to be about her experience as a woman learning to navigate the intricacies and dangers of power and privilege. She entered The White House perhaps naïve and awe-struck at 18 and left at 26 with a completely different attitude. For anyone interested in politics or the inner sanctum of The White House, Government Girl is the ideal memoir.… (mais)