The Pelosis became friends with many prominent Californians, in particular Congressman Phil Burton and his wife. Sala replaced Phil when he died young and she in turn pushed Nancy to run for that seat as she lay dying of cancer. After a hotly contested race, Nancy was picked by some of the most liberal voters in the country to represent them in a 1987 special election. Pelosi hasn’t faced serious competition for her seat since then, making it easy for her to speak out on issues without fear of losing it.
The bulk of the book is on Pelosi’s 35 years (to date) in the House. As Washington bureau chief of USA Today, Page has been well-positioned to cover a woman who has broken several glass ceilings. Pelosi was the first women to be elected Whip and House Minority Leader. She’s been Speaker twice (2007-2011 and 2019 to date).
Nancy used her ability to corral votes to pass Obamacare. (See the chapter on Pelosicare). She opposed the invasion of Iraq while remaining cordial with Bush ‘43. She opposed his impeachment for that war, while supporting the impeachment of Trump years later.
She’s been attacked and lauded. Republicans use her for fundraising fodder. She eats Republicans for lunch. She strokes The Squad. They often disagree, but the fangs aren’t out. Perhaps, as Nancy often said, raising five children was good preparation for being a political leader.
Page doesn’t say when she began this book, but from the amount of research in it, it was long before she finished her last book. She interviewed Nancy ten times over a period of years — no mean feat for someone who seems never to have enough time to sleep — plus 141 other busy people. She did have help with the archival research,
Page concludes that Nancy Pelosi is of equal importance to the three top Speakers of the last century, an achievement which makes being the first female to hold that office seem almost trivial. The first three have House Office Buildings named for them. Independence Avenue is already crowded. Where will the Pelosi HOB be constructed?
Copyright © 2021 by Jo Freeman for SeniorWomen.com
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