My marriage is incredibly important to me. It's the place from which I engage in the world every day, and the place to which I return every day.

For most young Americans I know, 'serving' in the broadest sense now seems like the only thing to do.

I'm sorry, I don't talk to the press. Even though I think you're cute.

I certainly believe that all of my friends should have the right, as Marc and I did, to marry their best friend. I certainly expect my straight friends to help us achieve that for all New Yorkers, for all Americans, and for the children that, at least, Marc and I hope to have someday.

My grandmother, who passed away at the beginning of November, had a core adage in her life that life is not about what happens to you but about what you do with what happens to you. She recently had been cajoling me and challenging me to do more with my life. To lead more of a purposefully public life.

I've tried really hard to care about things that were very different from my parents. I was curious if I could care about [money] on some fundamental level, and I couldn't. That wasn't the metric of success I wanted in my life. I've talked about this to my friends who are doctors and whose parents are doctors, or who are lawyers and their parents are lawyers. It's a funny thing to realize I feel called to this work both as a daughter and also as someone who believes I have contributions to make.

When my father announced his campaign for president on Oct. 3, 1991, I had already cast my vote in favor of his candidacy.