Early Monday evening, thousands of messages sent and received by Hillary Clinton over her private email server were released, all part of ongoing efforts to make public Clinton’s communications during her tenure as Secretary of State. The latest email dump, of which there are in the neighborhood of seven thousand pages, is full of mundane back-and-forths, international crisis updates, and meme-ready gefilte fish queries. In short, it’s something of a mixed bag–One which dedicated politicos are sifting through on a granular level, trying to glean any sort of insight into the inner workings of the woman who might someday be our next president. But while the data dump is ostensibly focused on Hillary herself, it’s former First Daughter Chelsea who may ultimately be the sleeper superstar of the email release, instead.
Of particular interest is a blistering message sent by Chelsea to her mother and father regarding rebuilding efforts in Haiti, following the catastrophic earthquake which devastated that country in 2010–Efforts which former President Clinton, himself, was involved in. Chelsea’s email is both substantive in content, and illuminative in context, offering a window into the mind of someone who grew up in the halls of power, and may well be headed back that way, sometime soon. Entitled simply “Haiti,” the seven page memo is striking for its clarity, thoughtfulness, and emotional resonance, casting the former first daughter as a significant and savvy force in her parents’ philanthropic and geopolitical operations.
Written following an on-site tour of the devastated country, Chelsea’s message contains observational takeaways and policy recommendations regarding what she viewed as excessive failures on the part of U.N. relief efforts following the quake. “To say I was profoundly disturbed by what I saw – and didn’t see – would be an understatement,” Chelsea writes, adding “as is often said, if I had more time – and less emotion – I would have written a shorter letter.” She warns her parents of the dire consequences of sub-par aid work, explaining that “Haitians want to help themselves and want the international community to help them help themselves. Chelsea then offers a laundry list of ways rebuilding efforts up to that point had hampered that desire, and suggests a number of possible ways to turn things around. The full document can be found here.
Since having been made public, Chelsea’s email has been among the most talked about extracts from her mother’s email dump, leading The New York Times’ coverage of the releases, and earning praise across Twitter:
Chelsea, who spent four years as a special reporter for NBC news, and has her Ph.D. in philosophy from Oxford, currently sits on the board of the Clinton Foundation. In 2014, she hinted at being open to running for office, herself. If the Haiti memo is any indication, she certainly’s certainly on the right track.
