The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House

“‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ This beautiful statement is the foundation of my ‘why.’”

Pelosi directly quotes from the Bible here and in other parts of the text. In this instance, she relies on the scripture to explain to the reader her religious motivation for going into politics. This appeal to values (ethos) is meant to present Pelosi as a politician dedicated to social justice.

“While speaking with the legendary Louisiana congresswoman Lindy Boggs, I mentioned that I thought I had too many titles—three—and should probably give one up. In her lovely drawl, Lindy replied, ‘Darlin’, no man would ever make that statement.’ ‘Know thy power,’ she said, ‘and use it.’ I never forgot that vital lesson.”

As a woman who occupied the third-most powerful position in the United States as speaker, Pelosi is a trailblazer in American politics. In this quote, she describes a mentor’s perspective on The Challenges of Navigating Gender Norms, namely, that women who wish to be powerful must get in the habit of self-promotion. This is one of the many lessons Pelosi learned from female mentors.

“As he spoke, my chair started to feel crowded, and I had the sensation of being surrounded. It was as if I were being joined by the great women’s rights activists and leaders Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, and Alice Paul. I was not alone in my chair; all of them were sitting with me saying, At last, we have a seat at the table. My next thought was, ‘We want more.’ More women. More diversity. More seats at the table.”

Pelosi explicitly situates her rise to power as a progression from the work of previous women in politics, which reflects The Challenges of Navigating Gender Norms. Invoking this tradition naturalizes the idea of women in power. Pelosi also references the idea of paying forward the strength she received from that tradition by recruiting more women for political office. This commitment to expanding opportunities for women is an important part of the progressive ideology Pelosi espouses throughout the