New Kid No More

When Sujean Lee ’03 first learned of Attorney General John Ashcroft’s resignation last week, she told her parents not to worry. It’s not just that she’s a die-hard Republican. Ashcroft’s her boss, and she wanted to reassure her parents that she wouldn’t lose her job.

The youngest on Ashcroft’s staff by eight years and one of the few without a law degree, this political appointee—her official title—hires for the Department of Justice and plans for the movers and shakers of the world.

Lee could stay. But this is the perfect opportunity for her to move on.

One of Washington D.C.’s most promising stars, Lee has her sights set on the White House—though not the Oval Office, yet.

Relaxing after a stressful week, Lee lounges in her D.C. apartment wearing pajama pants and a Harvard t-shirt. She’s looking forward to returning to Cambridge this weekend for the Harvard-Yale game, her first since senior year.

A lot has happened since then. One summer out of college and one year out of her stint as Undergraduate Council president, she landed a top job in the nation’s capital and has since won over the establishment.

Still, she’s modest about her achievements. When asked about her status as D.C.’s up-and-comer, the 23-year-old laughs and temporarily loses her eloquence—sounding, for once, like a girl just out of college.

“I don’t, like, bask in my job, or think like I’m on a different level than everyone else,” she says. “I’ve been really lucky to be able to do this at a young age. It is true that there aren’t that many young people in my office. It’s been really cool.”

Lee picked up the skills she uses to navigate D.C.’s political maze while at Harvard, where she dealt daily with argumentative leaders and often played the peacemaker.

“She learned how to bring together people that were coming from two different ends,” close friend and fellow Seneca member Tamara Klajn ’05 says. “That’s crucial.”

Earlier, Lee had toyed with careeers in education (“Because I loved writing on the chalkboard,” she says) and medicine.

But she changed her course the summer after junior year, when she interned on the Hill with Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. She considered switching her concentration from biology to government, but scrapped the idea.

And with her Bachelor’s in Biology, she set off for the capital. Three months after graduation, she became the only twenty-something on the Attorney General’s staff and one of the few without a J.D.

“She works at a very high level job. You have to remind yourself how young she is,” says Trent W. Luckinbill, counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Anti-Trust Division who has worked with Lee closely. “That’s the dichotomy of Sujean: she’s very popular but at the same time hard-working, well-respected in the circle.”

Perhaps that’s because of her loyalty to the politically polarizing Ashcroft and even more polarizing President Bush. Lee avoids commentary and recites facts when asked about the controversial USA Patriot Act and anti-terrorism efforts.

“I personally feel that I am fully supportive of the Department of Justice’s policies thus far,” Lee says in an interview one day before Ashcroft’s resignation was made public. “It is hugely noble and inspiring that an individual like John Ashcroft perseveres to hold that responsibility.”

She leans far to the right of the friends she made in the People’s Republic of Cambridge, she admits. But that’s a good thing, says the former member of the Harvard Republican Club. “If you’re constantly challenged, you’re able to make sure that those beliefs are your own.”

Ashcroft will soon step out the door. But in the office it’s the usual day-to-day grind: planning meetings for the ministers of justice from seven other countries, writing a report on intellectual property covering everything from downloaded tunes to designer purses. She sometimes works late into the night and on weekends, but she doesn’t resent it, she says. “The honeymoon period lasted long.”

Now that’s over. But she’s had her introduction to D.C.’s political underbelly, and she’s looking for her next job opportunity—perhaps at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.