Virtually every office on Capitol Hill has an intern. So does every media outlet and interest group. Clinton himself was once an intern on the Hill, as were many in his administration. One former intern, now a chief of staff for a Democratic congressman, believes Clinton's White House is more intern-dependent than any in recent years. He cites the reduction in paid support staff that Clinton made after the 1992 election as one reason for the ubiquity of interns.
Interns try to stand out by demonstrating energy, drive and loyalty.
The danger in this thinking, according to several former interns, is that some interns will try to define their value by their associations with powerful people. White House interns are encouraged to stay out of the way of the higher-ups, says another former intern who was there at the same time as Lewinsky. But some defy such edicts in order to be close to power. That's because success is judged differently in government than in the private sector. Such an atmosphere creates competition, he says.