Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2021. | Wikimedia Commons photo.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi has just five months remaining in her storied political career.
Pelosi, a California Democrat finishing her 20th term in office, won’t seek re-election this fall. She has served as House speaker twice, (2007-2011 and 2019-2023) and the was first woman elected to the post. President Biden award her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2024. Pelosi has also written two books, most recently The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House, which was published in 2024.
Pelosi appeared at the recent Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in Seattle, where she was interviewed by Hanna Rosin, a journalist and podcast host of Radio Atlantic who formerly worked at The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The Washington Post.
Here, in Pelosi’s own words, are some of her remarks (edited for length and clarity).
I never saw myself in the public arena. I was basically a very shy person.
Every day counts. I'm not looking in terms of five months. We will have the election, and we want to make sure that everybody knows that the election will be safe and will be protected, that we will win.
There's so much at stake. Not that we can change the (Supreme Court) right now, but this is the election we must win.
I don't know when Putin became co-president of the United States, but he seems to be calling the shots on Ukraine, on so many other things. I think that is very, very wrong. So, we're having a difference of opinion on policy. I'd rather not talk personally about (President Trump).
We (myself and President Trump) had a reasonable rapport in part of the first term, but then we had to impeach him twice. He wasn't a fan. He gave us no choice. He violated the Constitution of the United States and committed acts described in the Constitution as impeachable.
The country needs a strong Republican party. By that, I do not mean a cult. I mean a strong Republican party, the GOP, great leaders for our country and great things for our country. We have to get that back, and so I don't see this as Democrats versus Republicans.
I think the Democrats know what they have to be and that is not a monolith. We represent different constituencies around the country. I can't go in and say everybody should be like me, because I'm from San Francisco and this is the right thing to do. You have to listen to other people's views.
The Republican Party has a different attitude. They just do what they're told. That's not what we are.
My whole thing is that the arts will save us. How many of you have been to a museum, to a concert, go to a movie. Wherever you go, whoever you might be sitting next to, you don't know what their political thinking is, but for that time you have common ground. You laugh together. You cry together.
One of the tragedies, or the victims of social media, is truth. There's no categorical imperative. It's a lot of misrepresentation, but it's what's there and that's what we have to deal with.
This is our year to honor the Constitution of the United States.
