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In his new book, “The Art of Power: My Story as the First Female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives” (forthcoming from Simon & Schuster on August 6), Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emeritus of the House of Representatives, who served for a total of eight years, from 2007 to 2023, describes the demands and responsibilities of her role. She also tells the story of key events during her tenure, from the economic collapse sparked by bank failures in 2008 to the insurrection that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Read an excerpt below and Don’t miss Lesley Stahl’s interview with Nancy Pelosi on “CBS Sunday Morning” on August 4!
Nancy Pelosi’s “The Art of Power”
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Being Speaker of the House is probably the most difficult job in government. You have to address the same issues as the President (but you don’t have the advantage of making appointments to the entire executive branch or proposing judicial appointments). The Speaker of the House has a much smaller staff and doesn’t have the benefit of the pulpit of tyranny. Instead of leading only your political party, you are also responsible for leading the entire House of Representatives, which is made up of 435 voting members and 6 non-voting delegates. Being Speaker of the House is obviously very different from being a member of Congress. As members of Congress, we most often act in a deductive manner: we submit our ideas to hearings, town hall meetings with our constituents, and other forms of public comment. Members have time to decide and refine or modify a proposal as it goes through the committee process and reaches the House floor.
The job of Speaker of the House is different. It is both a position of unique power and a leadership position that requires a combination of political experience, strategic savvy, and, most importantly, intuition. A good Speaker of the House can never be surprised by anything. You must know what all the options are, at all times. Those options include how each member of your caucus will vote, what you are willing to concede in negotiations with the Senate or the White House and what you are not willing to concede, and what resonates with the American people and why. Every challenge you face requires a decision, and you don’t always have a lot of time to make that decision. Anticipation is the order of the day. You must be able to immediately articulate your answers to the questions why, what, and how. You must demonstrate a plan, and you must act without hesitation. The moment you hesitate, your options diminish. The longer you wait, the more your options diminish. Anyone with a goal in mind will chip away at your delayed decision.
A president’s actions must be both intuitive and quick to execute, but that’s not enough. The thinking that informs and supports a president’s intuition must be strategic and respected. That’s why I believe it’s absolutely essential to maintain a constant level of contact with members—you need to know what members are thinking. This contact benefits everyone in two ways: not only do you learn from your members, but when members see that you’re invested in them, it gives them confidence in your knowledge and judgment, which is critical. The advice to trust your gut only works if your gut is informed by both your head and your heart.
For the past twenty years, the word that has dominated my approach and my work with my colleagues has been “respect.” Our job title and our job description are one word: “representative.” On the Democratic side, we share deeply common values and have a great deal of respect for diversity—in terms of ethnicity, geography, generation, gender, sexual identity, and sometimes even philosophy—and so sometimes we differ. As I always tell members, “Our diversity is our strength, our unity is our power.”
Excerpt from “The Art of Power: My Story as the First Woman Speaker of the United States House of Representatives” by Nancy Pelosi. Copyright © 2024 by Nancy Pelosi. Reprinted with permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Nancy Pelosi’s “The Art of Power”
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