Weird Rules Chelsea Clinton Had To Follow While Growing Up In The White House

Bill and Hillary Clinton had a strict 30-minute time limit on their daughter Chelsea Clinton’s weekday TV watching. However, this rule was relaxed considerably on the weekends. Like many ’80s and ’90s kids, Chelsea indulged in all the Saturday morning cartoons. Bill and Hillary also showed adaptability in regard to rules as their daughter grew up. As a teen, Chelsea successfully advocated for the 30 minutes extended to an hour so she could enjoy the weekly drama “ER.” 

Besides keeping a close eye on Chelsea’s TV watching, the Clintons were vigilant about media portrayals of their child. Hillary once contacted “Saturday Night Live” to protest a sketch where actor Julia Sweeney depicted Chelsea onscreen. “SNL” later issued an apology to Chelsea after a different sketch criticized the then-teen’s appearance.  Bill was also outspoken about Chelsea being scrutinized by the media. “I think you gotta be pretty insensitive to make fun of an adolescent child,” the then-president-elect informed People in December 1992, per The Washington Post.

Surprisingly, although her TV time was monitored, Chelsea’s computer time was unrestricted. “I played the Carmen San Diego and Oregon Trail games, generally with my dad beside me, for hundreds of hours,” the former first daughter writes in the forward of “Talking Back to Facebook.” Perhaps this unlimited game-playing was due to Bill and his daughter’s mutual enjoyment — as Chelsea writes, “Media consumption, like meals, was a shared family experience.”