Thread by @ClaireBerlinski

Amy Klobuchar now goes to college in Chapter 3: "From New Haven to Hyde Park." About college: "I assumed I'd go but no one gave me any specific advice" and where she'd go wasn't a big topic of discussion at home.

She wasn't sure where to go, so she selected eight schools at random. A few months later, she received acceptances at Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown. Neither of her parents wanted her to go to an Ivy--her dad thought $7,500 tuition was far too steep.

(Yes, it was another world.)

She managed to talk her dad into paying for Yale, with the help of her dad's boss, who was shocked at the thought she wouldn't go.

She'd never before met a kid from a private school and "had no idea that squash was a sport as well as a vegetable."

She loved Yale. She didn't, unlike some of her peers, arrive already burnt out: she'd spent a good chunk of the previous years waitressing and "hanging out."

LIFE OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY

Her parents sent her $25 twice a month; she had to stand in line at the bank to take it out. She earned extra money by typing papers (yes, we did that) and being a test in science experiments (did that, too.)

And like me, she was such a good typist that she got hired as a temp secretary, and temped during her breaks. She worked a summer job in construction.

She was so busy with class and making money that she had little spare time. "I took on a couple of extracurricular activities, but not nearly as many as kids do today."

Somehow she made time for friendships; it sounds like she had fun with hers.

A POLITICAL EDUCATION, PART 1 ...

Wait a moment ... didn't she say that she knew nothing about politics in high school? Now she mentions that she worked on "several state legislative races."

I guess she said, "national politics."

Her interest in politics and policy blossomed in college. She was inspired by classes with Robert Dahl, Steve Rosenstone, Joe Lieberman, and Ted Marmor.

Her senior essay, later to be a book, was called "Uncovering the Dome," and examined the struggle to build a new sports stadium in Minnesota.

For years, it's been an assigned textbook in American governance classes.

She interned for Mondale. It cost $100/month to live in a disused fraternity room at 2020 G Street.

Her first assignment was to do an inventory of the furniture in all of the vice president's staff offices.

She discovered that 1) true to his reputation, Mondale was honest: nothing was missing. And 2) take your first job seriously; you never know where it could lead.

She went to the 1980 Democrat Convention.

She came away with enormous respect for Mondale.

LAW SCHOOL

She chose the University of Chicago because they offered the best financial aid package. (Her father had remarried and was helping raise three more kids.)

She also wanted to go to a place as conservative as Yale is liberal, for balance.

"The University of Chicago Law School wasn't a place for students who wanted a low-pressure academic experience."

Her answer to one of Richard Epstein's questions is class lore. A big inside joke about "foreseeability." (It's actually quite funny, but you have to read it.)

Cass Sunstein was her adviser. She later helped him get confirmed by the Senate.

She and her friends set out to change the University of Chicago's reputation as "not a party school."

I kind of love Amy Klobuchar.

She and her friends hosted dance parties and played Blondie, Madonna, and Cyndi Lauper until the wee hours.

One classmate was Jim Comey.

When she graduated, she was ready to take on the world.

End chapter.