White House Intern

By Olivia Biagi
Collegian Editor
February 20, 2008

While some seniors may have spent the fall semester working through their first bout of senioritis, history/political science major Chris Caimano spent time preparing for post-graduation during his internship at the White House.

“It was a nice preview of what the real world is like,” said Caimano. “One of the staffers I interacted with a lot said it was going to take a while to get used to being in the office.”

From September to mid-December 2007, Caimano lived in Washington, D.C., completed some independent studies with Dr. Michael Dillon, chair of the La Salle political science department and Dr. Milen Petrov, a professor of history, and worked in the White House Counsel Office.

“It’s the legal office of the White House,” said Caimano. “I lived on Capitol Hill. I had a great view of the [Capitol] dome from my window.”

While his day-to-day activities mainly consisted of working on spreadsheets, there were many notable things that occurred in Caimano’s office during his time there.

“The new Attorney General [Michael B. Mukasey] was appointed and constantly in the building,” said Caimano. Also taking place was the investigation into the White House e-mails and the legitimacy of presidential privilege on documents.

“I went to the West Wing once a day or at least a couple times a week,” Caimano said. “[It was a] great time to network.”

Caimano had the opportunity to meet many interesting people during his internship, including his fellow interns.

“I interned with a kid who worked in the Department of Justice as a Special Deputy Marshall,” Caimano said. “He helped with the Saddam Hussein trial. I still talk to a lot of the kids I interned with.”

Caimano had previously met President George W. Bush before his internship. During his internship, Caimano noted that he met Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

“He’s great,” said Caimano. “He used to be AUSA — assistant U.S. attorney — then the U.S. attorney, then he became judge. He’s an older secretary and he’s still serving.” Caimano also had the opportunity to attend a speaker series, which ranged from high-ranking staff members to various secretaries. Among some of the other perks Caimano enjoyed while at the White House were a lot of free things, and presidential M&Ms in red, white and blue.

“Apparently they’re larger then regular M&Ms,” said Caimano.

The White House took on 100 interns for the fall 2007 semester, and only three worked in Caimano’s office.

“I worked for former Congressman [Mike] Fitzpatrick,” said Caimano. “I interned at the Congressional office and became a campaign staffer. When he lost [the election] a couple people in the [Bucks County] party thought it would be a good idea, because I had the credentials, to go to the White House.” Caimano plans to continue in politics after graduation.

“I’m pretty much in [politics],” said Caimano. “It’s a matter of now where I want to take it.” While Caimano has much experience working on campaigns, he would like to eventually try something different.

“It’s an election year, there are a lot of options,” said Caimano. “[I] definitely [want to] continue my education. I want to be involved in government service.”

Although the internship was unpaid, there were many benefits that Caimano could not put a price on.

“If you go into it with excitement and enthusiasm, you end up learning a lot.”

biagio1@lasalle.edu