The Feld-Blog

Blake Gottesman is Special Assistant and Personal Aide to President Bush. He dropped out of Claremont McKenna College after taking classes for one year in order to take his job at the White House. He dated Jenna Bush back in high school and part of his job as personal aide includes the menial tasks like making penut butter sandwiches and babysitting the dog. Yet he just got into Harvard's Business School.

A ton of Blogs and paper have jumped on this tidbit saying that he doesn't deserve it - that making sandwiches does not prepare someone for Business School or that this is Bush's form of Affirmative Action. But I say: LEAVE THE KID ALONE! Many of my fellow progressives, eager to jump on any anti-Bush bandwagon would take the above information and say flat out that Blake doesn't deserve to get in to Harvard Business School. My response is: YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM. So he didn't finish college? So what? If Bill Clinton had come to me in my first year of college and said, "Hey, I want you to come be my personal aide and have an office in the West Wing Right next to the oval office," I would have dropped by books in a blink and been on the next plane to DC. Most people I know would have... so give the kid a break for stopping out of college to work for the President of the United States.

As for his menial tasks, I answered phones and sorted mail and stuffed envelopes when I was working on the Hill, but I also drafted statements and speeches for my Congresswoman, did legislative research to make vote recommendations and wrote "dear Colleague" letters that ended up being signed by 5 Members of Congress and 2 Senators. And that was just on the hill. Imagine what Blake Gottesman gets to do for the President. Just to say that he does menial tasks as part of his job doesn't mean they are his whole job. Ask an executive assistant what they do for their boss. I'll bet they tell you its harder than you think. Being a personal aide is even harder. It takes a tremendous work ethic, sleepless nights and uncanny organizational skills - and for this information I am only going off my understanding of personal aides to the doctors and lawyers I know. I can't imagine what it must be like for the President.

I am not saying that Blake absolutely deserves to get into Harvard Business School. I don't know the kid. I couldn't say for sure. All I am saying is that, with the information presented, it's impossible to determine that he isn't deserving. Of course he gets a tremendous leg up by having a letter of recommendation from the President, but doesn't he deserve it for working 4 years as Bush's personal aide? Gottesman could be brilliant - Claremont is a very good school - we don't know. Maybe he was getting straight A's. It hasn't been reported. I'm not saying we need to roll out the red carpet. I am just saying stop and think about what you're saying before you say it. You probably haven't met this kid. Don't dismiss him out of hand just because he worked for George W.