EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Pelosi discusses her role in some of nation's most historic recent moments
In an exclusive Bay Area TV interview, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi spoke with ABC7 News about her new book "The Art of Power."
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi spoke with ABC7 News in her first local TV interview to discuss her new book "The Art Of Power."
Pelosi sat down with ABC7's Stephanie Sierra to discuss new details about the insurrection, a phone call with former President Trump ahead of his impeachment investigation, and a personal accounting of the attack on her husband and the impacts on her family.
Know your why
The Speaker discusses at length in her book "Know Your Why" as her motivation to enter a life of public service.
"I would always say to people, 'know your why,' because getting involved in the public arena is not for the faint of heart," Pelosi said. "When you know why you're doing it, it makes it worthwhile."
In her book, Pelosi explains, "The children have always been my 'why' in public service and in my running for office. As a mother of five, my 'why' is the one in five children in America who go to sleep hungry each night. How could it be that in America, the greatest country in the history of the world, one in five children lives in poverty?"
Pelosi is one of seven children, a mother of five, and a grandmother to 10. As her book points out, her legislative life has been inspired, in large part, by policies focused on future generations - the children.
"I planned to write the book years ago, but I didn't have time because I was Speaker," Pelosi said. "So I put it off until now."
Chapter 2 - Knock, Knock, Knock
In the second chapter, Pelosi reveals her husband Paul hasn't spoken about the October 2022 attack with her or the children, underscoring how painful the impact has been on her family.
TIMELINE: Latest updates after Paul Pelosi attacked inside San Francisco home
Stephanie Sierra: "Your second chapter delves into what I'd imagine to be one of the worst mornings of your life, the attack on your husband. I first want to ask, how is Paul doing?"
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi: "He's coming along. He's improved a lot. But, he has more to go. Paul hasn't spoken to us about it. Doctors think that's good to not revisit it, because it's very traumatic - I think he thinks it would be too traumatic for us to hear."
Sierra: "Do you still avoid those areas in the home?"
Pelosi: "Not as much as we did at first... but it is our home and we love it. So many memories - as I say in the book, at one point, Paul said, 'let's go watch the games downstairs' and that was a step forward because that's where we watched the Giants, the Warriors..."
Sierra: "The Ravens too?"
Pelosi: "And the Ravens, yes. Baltimore teams as well. But, for a long time, we've avoided that room where the attacker came in."
Sierra: "Did you ever contemplate leaving public office after what happened to Paul?"
Pelosi: "It's a funny thing. It could have a reverse effect. You cannot let them have a victory - it was really important for me to show that you can come back from this.... You can't have young people or people new to public service fear of pursuing because of assault, so we have to put a stop to it."
Speaker Emerita Pelosi also wrote in her book about the dehumanizing jokes and misrepresentations about the attempt on Paul Pelosi's life - including the comment by Donald Trump Jr. making light of the situation referencing a Halloween costume.
"As I say, the physical violence was near fatal. We didn't want Paul to ever hear what Trump, his family, other Republican leaders, a governor, and some others, like Elon Musk, found humor in," Pelosi said. "That they found humor in it, is sick on their part. And it was traumatizing for our children and our grandchildren. So we kept that away from Paul, and instead, made sure he was aware of the thousands and thousands of calls, letters, messages of support, prayer, and kindness he was receiving from all over the world."
ABC7's Stephanie Sierra asked the Speaker if she plans to run for re-election in 2026.
"I'm not talking about that," Pelosi said. "All I'm talking about now is electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, President and Vice President of the United States. Twelve weeks from today."
A phone call about an impeachment investigation
The Speaker writes about a testy phone call with former President Trump. She described her attempts to find common ground with Trump after his inauguration and went into detail about a phone conversation she had with him ahead of his impeachment investigation.
"Let's just say if a President is elected, we want that President to succeed, so we hope for the best and although his inaugural address was horrible - you'd still hope a President of The United States would do a good job," Pelosi said. "But anyways, he didn't."
Insurrection through the eyes of the Speaker
Pelosi shares personal details of the moments leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Her husband Paul was in her D.C. office with her, the first to notify her of the rioters. Her daughter Alexandra and her grandsons were there that day with her, too.
Chilling details such as members crawling on the floor "combat-style" to reach a doorway on the House floor. In other cases, members called their family members to say their goodbyes thinking they were going to die.
The Speaker recounts rioters yelling, "Where's Nancy, Where's Nancy?" as they made threats to her life and then Vice President Mike Pence.
Sierra: "You talk about the members fearing for their lives, did you think you were going to die that day?"
Pelosi: "I didn't think I was going to die, I was more worried about them." (Staffers stuck inside the Capitol, police, National Guard)
President Biden
A seat at the table
Speaker Emerita Pelosi revisits many moments in her career where she faced adversity - especially from men.
Sierra: "Going back to when you threw your hat in the ring for House Democratic Whip, some of the most powerful men in Congress not only wanted you to lose this race but didn't even want you to run. How did you handle all those egos?"
Pelosi: "It didn't bother me at all. I considered it to be their problem. They said, 'Who said she could run?' As if it were up to them! They said, we have a pecking order here, some men had been waiting for a while for a space to run, and I said, 'Well, we've been waiting 200 years, let's just run and see who has the votes.' And I had the votes!"
Putting people over politics
"Where we cannot find that common ground, we must stand our ground."
Speaker Pelosi shares many examples of this motto during moments in history when she was in the room where it happened. From passing the Affordable Care Act to the 2008 Financial Crisis, to the Iraq War, and fighting for human rights in China.
Sierra: "At any point, did you want to give up?"
Pelosi: "No. We can't even send off that scent. In terms of the Affordable Care Act, Presidents said try for 100 years to expand access to affordable, quality healthcare for many more Americans and nobody ever succeeded," Pelosi said. "Barack Obama came up with this beautiful mandate - and that motto we're not letting anything stand in our way."
Love letter to San Francisco
In one of her final chapters, Speaker Pelosi writes about her love and admiration for the City by the Bay. Praising San Francisco values and highlighting her inspiration from the Patron Saint, St. Francis of Assisi.
"You go from San Francisco to Washington, you think, let's shake this place up a little more," said Pelosi.
"No matter what my colleagues may bestow upon me whether it was Whip, Leader, or Speaker of the House, nothing compares to going to the House floor and saying I speak for the people of San Francisco," Pelosi said.
Pelosi referenced in the book one of her first moments speaking on the House floor when she was pressured to keep her speech short because senior members told her "Nobody wants to hear from a new member of Congress, so don't say anything!"
But after she was sworn in, the Speaker said, "Does the gentlewoman from California wish to address the House?"
"They told me, be short, be short!"
Pelosi walked up to the podium on the House floor and said, "I'm here to fight against HIV and AIDS... just that short, not even a full minute!"
She gets back to her seat greeted with grumbles.
Pelosi responds, "What's a matter? I was under a minute."
She writes the other members criticized, "Why would you want the first thing people hear about you is that you're here for HIV and AIDS? Why did you say that's what you came here to do?"
"What did you say to them?" Sierra asked.
"Well, I told them that because that's what I came here to do."
Watch the full interview with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi below.
