White House Tried to Block Chelsea Article

Many a mother would be pleased to learn that People magazine was planning a flattering cover story about her relationship with her devoted daughter. But not First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In fact, the White House was so furious about a glowing mother-daughter profile, appearing in the Feb. 15 issue of People, that the first lady’s press office applied stiff pressure to try to get the magazine to drop the idea. The Secret Service even made an appeal to the top editors of the weekly, arguing that keeping Chelsea Clinton out of the limelight makes agents’ jobs easier, according to a People editor.

“There was pressure from the White House from Day One,” the editor said. “Their first argument was invasion of privacy. Their second argument was a generic security issue about making the Secret Service’s job more difficult.”

The Clintons have long been protective of their only child, beseeching the media to let Chelsea grow up unhampered by probing reporters and television cameras. And by and large, the media have respected their wishes.

The Clintons reflected that in a statement released in reaction to the People article.

“For over six years, the media has understood and respected the unique situation facing Chelsea,” the Clintons said. “We can only hope the media will continue its policy of restraint.”

The first couple’s iron grip on Chelsea’s privacy seemed to have eased over the years.

And when Chelsea went to Stanford University, the White House did nothing to discourage the reams of positive coverage her rite of passage received.

But in recent months, the context of some of that coverage has shifted. Recent tabloid articles about Chelsea’s personal life at Stanford caused a flap. And the People article is titled “Grace Under Fire: An Intimate Look at the Deep Bond of Love That Sustains the Clinton Women Through Their Painful Family Ordeal.”