Andrea Whitney '97, one of the few interns who had close contact with President Bill Clinton during the months of his alleged sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, said such an affair would have been "extremely unlikely."
In an exclusive interview with The Dartmouth last night, Whitney said she thinks it is "nearly impossible" that Clinton could have engaged in a sexual relationship with an intern.
Whitney, who worked in the Immediate Office of the President from January through March of 1996, said she was one of only two or three interns who "worked at a really personal level" with the president. Whitney said she saw the president once or twice a day when he was in the White House, and every Saturday morning when she worked on his weekly radio addresses.
Whitney said she never saw or heard of anything unusual between Clinton and any of the interns.
"He definitely had a boss-type role and it was very rare you had any personal time with the president," Whitney said. "Everyone that I worked with thought the world of him and thought he was a great boss."
Although Whitney served as an intern at the same time as Lewinsky worked in the White House, Whitney said she did not know her on a personal level.
During Whitney's first three months as an intern, Lewinsky worked in the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House, while Whitney worked in the West Wing of the White House -- the wing that houses the Oval Office.
Access to the West Wing is highly restricted, according to Whitney, who said she is surprised by recent media portrayals of easy access. Whitney said a majority of the White House's 150 interns only see the president once over the course of their internship.
"I'm kind of laughing at the allegations right now," Whitney said. "It's really very restricted access and extremely professional."
A. J. Thoryk '98, who worked as a White House intern between March and August of 1997, echoed Whitney's claim that very few interns have close contact with the president. Although Thoryk was one of the West Wing interns -- working for the National Economic Council -- he said he only met the president once.
Although Thoryk said some interns have more "perks" than others -- such as Chelsea Clinton's best friend who served as an intern at the same time as Thoryk -- few interns have any substantial contact with the president.
"Interns don't really have that kind of exposure to the president," Thoryk said.
Thoryk said he never saw anything unusual and said he never heard any gossip during his six months as an intern.
Whitney, who usually worked from 8 a.m. to 7:30 or 8 p.m., said the White House runs like a company, and both Clinton and the interns were constantly busy -- too busy for the allegations to be true.
"I think it's nearly impossible, after seeing how busy and how active he was," Whitney said.
Whitney said she thinks reports that Clinton allegedly gave Lewinsky a dress as a gift are probably exaggerated. She said the president would constantly give things to all people working in the White House -- since he would receive gifts as he traveled across the country but would not keep them because a law prevents the president from accepting gifts above a certain value.
"The press distorts a lot," Whitney said. "It's kind of frustrating for people that actually understand what went on there."
