Janis F. Kearney - Clinton Administration

Clinton Administration

Following the 1993 election, Kearney worked in the Little Rock office of the Clinton presidential transition. After the president’s inauguration, she was one of the Arkansans invited to join the President in Washington, D.C. She worked first as a White House media affairs officer and then as director of public communication for the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 1995 Kearney was appointed to serve as the first-ever personal diarist to a President.

In her role Kearney kept a daily diary of President Clinton’s days, attending meetings, events, and press conferences to create a living history. Her job placed her in the middle of the political scandals that plagued the Clinton administration. In 1997 she was a part of the controversy surrounding Clinton's campaign-fundraising activities, and in 1998 she was forced to testify before a Kenneth Starr grand jury to investigate the Clinton sex scandal. Her diary of the President’s days was subpoenaed. No wrongdoing was found. The diary would eventually be passed on to the Clinton Library.