Where I Stand—Brian Greenspun: Chelsea is on her way

Tuesday, June 19, 2001 | 8:44 a.m.

THE FIRST TIME I saw Chelsea Clinton's picture on the front page of a national newspaper, it was of a 12-year-old who, like most young girls her age, was moving through a rather awkward stage in her life.

It was not long afterward that the cruel people amongst us were making fun of her, as if by doing so they would hurt the real targets of their sick humor, Chelsea's parents. For the next eight years President and Mrs. Clinton did their best to shield their daughter from the prying eyes of the press and the ugliness that had become trademark Washington and part of the political process. Even though children of presidents had always been off limits, the media and those who wished her father ill trampled the bounds of decency and had their way with her, using every opportunity to strike at the parents through their child.

Monday I saw another picture of Chelsea Clinton. It was on the front page of the Los Angeles Times and was published above the cutline, "Chelsea Rolls Out of Stanford." It was the kind of picture that every parent should live long enough to see because it heralded the kind of success in life that we all wish for our children. It was Stanford and it was Chelsea having a grand old time celebrating this rite of passage. But it could have been another child at another university and it would have been just as satisfying. Almost.

For starters, I don't know too many other kids whose graduation would have warranted a front page picture in one of the largest circulated newspapers in the country. For that matter, I suspect a similar picture managed to make other front pages around the country. And let's not kid ourselves. While she is a most accomplished young lady and will no doubt become a newsmaker in her own right someday, her newsworthiness this week was still based upon who her parents are and not because of anything real special she did. Unless, of course, you consider working your way through Stanford during a period of time that was so hellish and disconcerting that most grownups would have caved in and very few children would have survived.

The story that accompanied her picture led with the headline, "Jubilant Chelsea Clinton Graduates From Stanford." It told of her parents, a former president of the United States and a junior senator from the state of New York, sitting in the audience waving and blowing kisses to their daughter, just like the parents of the other 1,700 graduates were doing that day. They were justifiably proud of their kid, not just because she handled the difficult curriculum at this top-rated university but because she did it with such style and grace. And without one hint of impropriety which we all know, as parents, is an accomplishment in itself.

I suppose seeing her happy face and radiant smile on that front page makes up for the years of finger pointing and whispering that she had to endure as the daughter of a president who had his own set of naysayers constantly flailing away at his reputation and sometimes, missing their mark and hitting hers. Maybe it makes everything OK but it shouldn't, because I don't know why any youngster should be forced to endure the outrageous slings and arrows that were slung her family's way.

I have had the privilege of knowing this young lady and watching her grow from those awkward days into an incredible young woman with accomplishments far too numerous to mention and friends far too engaging not to. It wasn't that long ago that Myra and I had the honor of attending a 21st birthday dinner for her in New York. The two of us and her father were the grownups. The couple dozen other guests were among the most mature, thoughtful and endearing young people I have met. One was more impressive than the next and all were there because of one common bond -- their friendship with Chelsea.

It is said that we are known by the friends we have. I have known that to be true in our own family and I am convinced that it is a fact in Chelsea's young life. Friends are hard enough to make. They are even harder to keep. Good friends are the ones that stick with you when life gets difficult. Chelsea went through some tough times -- none of which were of her making -- and every one of these kids stuck by her. Many of them graduated with her this past Sunday.

I suppose my excitement over seeing Chelsea so happy on the front page of a newspaper is due in part to the feelings I have for her parents and the pride and happiness I know they feel for her accomplishments. But I believe it has more to do with the picture I saw behind that smile, behind the exhilaration that comes with graduation and behind the knowledge that she has already set her sights on so much more yet to come.

For what I saw behind all the hoopla, was the image of an American youngster forced to grow up in a world of plenty -- plenty of hate, plenty of mean-spiritedness, plenty of ugliness. But what I also saw was a woman who has grown up so much the better for it. Behind those sunglasses and behind that infectious smile, is the kind of indomitable spirit that continues to make America the envy of the rest of the world.

You see, Chelsea Clinton is headed for England to study at Oxford University. If you know your history, that's the same place her father went to study after he graduated from another top-rated university, Georgetown. He became the 42nd president of the United States.

It wouldn't surprise me and it would please me greatly if, one day, another Clinton enters the White House as the elected leader of this country. That's the other look I saw in that picture. The look of greatness, just waiting to happen.