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

Nancy Pelosi describes the instrumental role of Congress, especially Democrats, in saving the economy during the economic crisis of 2007. As soon as she heard rumblings of trouble on Wall Street, she contacted Hank Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury in the George W. Bush administration. She criticized the fact that she had to reach out to him, not the other way around. Pelosi goes into detail to explain the root causes of the crisis— namely greed, dishonesty on the part of banks, predatory lending, and deregulation of the banking and securities industries.

Pelosi sprang into action and began work with the administration on legislation to save the economy. The cost was a staggering $400 billion, according to Paulson. He wanted to have the government buy up the toxic assets that were bankrupting the banks and securities firms, while Pelosi and the Democrats instead wanted to try capitalization, which Pelosi explains means purchasing shares in the troubled firms. Any plan would require Congress to appropriate funds. Paulson also believed that including caps on executive salaries in the legislation would never succeed. Pelosi’s goals were to hold banks accountable and to “insulate Main Street from Wall Street” (160).