THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994 TAG: 9406140128
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940615 LENGTH: SMITHFIELD
But when Danielle Carroll Morgan tells you, she's convincing.
``There needs to be one, and I would be a good president,'' said Morgan, graduating second in her class at Smithfield High School this year. ``Think about it. A lot of presidents have come from prominent families. My family is middle class. I know what most of America is feeling.''
{REST} Morgan is already campaigning. For several years, she's been trying to convince her friends that she means what she says. The girls are easy, she said.
``Guys don't think women are strong enough,'' Morgan said. ``A male-dominated world has caused all of this. It's time for a change!''
She may not get elected president right away, but things will certainly be changing soon enough for the girl with a Mary Tyler Moore smile and a 3.92 grade point average who has been a student in the Isle of Wight public school system since kindergarten.
The family moved to the county about a year before Morgan - who has an older brother and a younger sister and brother - was born. And from the beginning, she said, school has been easy.
``I've always liked it, I guess. I've always done well,'' she said. ``I especially love languages. I want to learn every language I can learn.''
At Smithfield High, she's concentrated on French. When she attends Radford University this fall, she plans to major in French and political science.
``I want to go on for pre-law, international law,'' she said. ``Then I'll go into politics, maybe become ambassador to France first, before I run for office.''
Meanwhile, she's keeping a close eye on the current political scene. President Bill Clinton has some good ideas, she said, but he doesn't seem to be pulling some of them off very well.
Take health care, for example.
``He has a lot of good ideas,'' Morgan said. ``But I really don't understand how he intends to pay for it. He needs to keep the people more informed. It's worked in other countries. It should work here.''
Or the problem of the homeless.
``Just building shelters isn't the answer,'' she said. ``Providing these people with a way of life is a necessity.''
On welfare reform:
``I think a lot of those people aren't trying,'' Morgan said. ``They fall into a rut. Education is the answer here. You have to start with the younger generation first. They'll be more willing to change.''
Morgan has been active in high school preparing herself for her career goal. She's been involved in forensics, the drama team, drama club, peer facilitators. She's been a member of the French Club, the science and math clubs and the Student Council. She's senior class treasurer, and salutatorian of her graduating class.
Recently, Morgan received a $3,000 scholarship from Historic St. Luke's Restoration Inc., a private, non-profit foundation that maintains Historic St. Luke's Church. The award continues for four years of college so long as she maintains a ``B'' average.
In addition, she received a four-year $1,000 scholarship from Radford.
Morgan said she has every intention of working hard, but she'd like to make one thing perfectly clear.
``I think everybody has criticized President Clinton too much,'' she said. ``He should not be persecuted so for some of the things he's done in his personal life. Nobody is perfect. Everybody has faults.''
In other words, presidents are human, too.
And even though it hasn't happened yet. Someday, it could.
Some future president could be a woman. And she could be from Smithfield, Va.
After all, she was voted ``Most Likely to Succeed.''
by CNB