Sean Donahue retired last week. The third-year College student, who has reported on and worked for President Clinton for the past nine years, is now planning his first spring break trip - and this time, it doesn't include the President.
A White House correspondent at age 12 and a member of Clinton's advance staff team since his first year on Grounds, Donahue bid goodbye to his White House days on Jan. 20, along with Clinton.
"The whole thing was just very impressive," said third-year College student Bill Bartko, Donahue's friend who he invited up for Clinton's departure from Andrews Airforce Base. "For Sean it must have been closure for a heck of an experience."
That experience began when the 11-year-old Donahue, a Massachusetts native, first earned a position as a young political reporter for the WBZ radio show "Kid Company." Since then he has charged ahead in politics, vocalizing opinions on policy issues and interviewing prominent figures.
"The worst thing that anybody can do is to be idle, to complain about the issues that are affecting us, and to sit back and watch others address them," said Donahue, who at 20 years old has already stood his ground with the White House Press Corps, late-night talk show hosts and Hollywood directors.
The Early Years
"Kid Company," a Boston-based radio show, was deciding who would cover candidates during the 1991 New Hampshire presidential primaries. Donahue, a reporter for the program, expressed his interest in covering Paul Tsongas, the former Massachusetts senator. Instead, he was relegated to reporting on an up-and-coming southern governor.
"I was one of the youngest with the least amount of seniority, and so I was basically told that I would be covering Bill Clinton," Donahue said of the candidate, who in 1991 was still young in his career.
A second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary for Clinton led Donahue on an east coast tour, covering the future president for the remainder of his campaign. "My whole family was very supportive of taking me where I needed to go," Donahue said. Until he got his license, his parents drove him to and from campaign events. And when Clinton took office in 1993, Donahue, at age 12, became the White House correspondent for "Kid Company."
For the next several years Donahue traded in his hockey skates and baseball glove for weekends in Washington, D.C. He spent after school hours reading up on the issues on which we would later question the president.
"He didn't single me out as being a kid. I asked him questions about policy issues and he gave me straight answers," Donahue said of his experience interviewing Clinton.
"At that age you have some advantages, such as your size. If you're in a press gaggle you can sneak right through and get to the front and that was a huge advantage," Donahue said.
Being young had other perks as well.
"If I had a tough time finding some quotes or sources for news stories, I would just take my recorder to school and talk to my friends," Donahue said. "I tried to get them involved as much as I could."
Throughout his young journalist career, Donahue caught more than quotes and sound bites from politicians and celebrities. He also caught the attention of the American Cancer Society, which asked him to help with a referendum on raising the tobacco excess tax in Massachusetts.
In 1992, he made the first in a string of television appearances when Jay Leno invited him as a guest on "The Tonight Show." Interviews with Katie Couric and Conan O'Brien followed, along with spots for his own political commentary on CNN Financial Network.
Donahue's on-screen ease coupled with his political savvy suited him well for his next role in front of the cameras, this time at a new venue. Donahue played the school bully running for class president in the 1995 film "Unstrung Heroes," directed by Diane Keaton and co-starring Michael Richards, ("Seinfeld"). Although he had a taste of Hollywood, Donahue never thought of giving up his passion for politics and journalism.
The Transition
As WBZ phased out "Kid Company" and the 1996 election wound down in the late fall of that year, Donahue decided to shelve his thriving journalism career in order to turn his thought to college and his own school's political process. The senior class president graduated from high school in 1998 and was ready to head to the University in the fall.
But he couldn't stay away long. In February of 1999, Donahue contacted the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance, and was ready to work with the Clinton Administration again.
"In my Spring Break, in March of 1999, I went to West Palm Beach, Florida, as part of the president's advance team," Donahue said. "We went down about five days before him and started putting together his visit."
Until Clinton left office last week, Donahue had spent spring breaks, summers and a few days during the school year as part of the president's advance staff. Whether it was Hyderabad, India, Okinawa, Japan or East St. Louis, Mo., Donahue was part of a team of White House staffers that coordinated all the logistics of a presidential visit.
"I think one of the things I really enjoyed about doing advance for the president is you've really been able to help set a strategy all around the world, spread the message and help carry out the message," Donahue said.
Bartko has been able to share in some of those experiences alongside his good friend. In addition to joining Donahue for Clinton's departure and July 4th fireworks on the White House South Lawn, Bartko has assisted Donahue at presidential events in West Virginia during Israeli-Syrian peace talks, and last May when Clinton visited a Philadelphia middle school.
"Sean's always been a valuable resource whenever we've done something connected to the former administration," said Alex Theodoridis, chief of staff at the Center for Governmental Studies. "The level of his contacts is a real tribute to his talents, to his perseverance and to his true interest in getting involved in the process."
Although Donahue, a government major, never took more than a few days at a time off school, he says he is looking forward to settling into a semester of studying, spending time with friends, and, of course, going on his own spring break trip.
But that does not mean that between now and graduation he is setting aside his passion for politics.
"In the meantime, what I can do is help young people get involved," Donahue said.
And his plans for his summer?
He said, "I'm sure I'll find something to do"
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