House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi discussed her new book, The Art of Power, on PBS News Hour.
The California Democrat’s book was published Tuesday by Simon & Schuster. The press says that Pelosi “tells the story of her transformation from housewife to House Speaker—how she became a master legislator, a key partner to presidents, and the most visible leader of the Trump resistance.”
Pelosi told News Hour co-anchor Amna Nawaz that she wanted to write the book years ago, but “just had no time.”
“By the time I wrote it, when I was no longer speaker and had the time to do so, people said, ‘Well, you have to write about Jan. 6 and Trump, and you have to write about what happened to your husband.’” (Pelosi’s husband, businessman Paul Pelosi, was brutally beaten in 2022 by a man who broke into his home.)
Nawaz asked Pelosi, “It’s often said power is not given, that it has to be taken. So how do you do that?”
“They said at the time when I was running [for House Democratic leadership], ‘Who said she could run?’” Pelosi recalled. “God bless their hearts. But the fact is, I said to them, ‘I don’t want you voting for me because I’m a woman, but I don’t want you voting against me because I’m a woman. I just want to show you why I think we can win back the House.’”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
