Chelsea Clinton: Scholar in Love

UPDATED 12/30/2002 at 01:00 AM EST Originally published 12/30/2002 at 01:00 AM EST

Remember the Chelsea Clinton who came of age as a dutiful First Daughter? The shy, studious '90s update of Amy Carter? "We're talking about someone who at the White House wouldn't even make eye contact," says a former Clinton staffer. "It is such a pleasure to see Chelsea blossom into a confident, secure, charismatic woman." Blossom? Make that explode. Since enrolling in graduate school in international relations at England's Oxford University in fall 2001, Chelsea, 22, has enjoyed nothing short of a yearlong coming-out party. There she was at the Versace show in Paris last January, flanked by Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, her frizzy-haired, collegiate look replaced by a sleek, straightened bob, smoky eye makeup and a black designer pantsuit provided by her new friend Donatella Versace. And yes, that was Chelsea with steady boyfriend Ian Klaus, 24, an American Rhodes Scholar from California, kissing in a Venetian gondola, frolicking in the Caribbean, spicing up the U.S. Open tennis matches. "We're in love," Clinton told People in June. But has the politically pedigreed good girl become too much of a good-time girl? Not at all, according to Jon Liden, her boss at the World Health Organization during a summer internship in Geneva. "She has presence and confidence that comes from experience," he says, "yet she has absolutely no prima-donna tendencies. She does her work and engages everyone in a very serious and respectful manner. It's extremely heartening to see. She's sensational."

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