The 2013 class of White House interns is full of college and graduate students with connections to the Obama administration, the Washington Post reports.
There’s Harry Summers, a student at Bowdoin College and son of former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Michael Klain from Harvard, the son of Ron Klain, former Chief of Staff to Al Gore and Joe Biden. Adam Baer, at student at Dartmouth and son of former Clinton senior adviser Don Baer. James "Izzy" Rattner of Brown University, the youngest son of New York financier and major Democratic fundraiser Steve Rattner. And Madeline Broas, another Dartmouth student and daughter of D.C. lawyer and Democratic donor Timothy Broas.
But it’s not all about politics: Consider Grant Tanenbaum, a student at Wesleyan University and grandson of Washington Nationals owner Ted Lerner.
Like most Washington internships, the process is highly competitive: Applicants need to submit a resume, two essays and two letters of recommendation for the full-time, unpaid jobs in the West and East wings. After months of deliberation, interns are selected based on their public service, community leadership and "commitment to the mission of the Obama Administration," according to the White House web site.
The Post says that some interns appear to have received internships based on merits and that it is unclear how much the connections helped the students.