Why is the Capital Police outside of Langford Auditorium you ask? Because the 1,100 students in PSCI 1150: U.S. Elections had the honor of hearing from Nancy Pelosi, representative of California’s 11th Congressional District and the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House.
Nancy Pelosi became a member of the House of Representatives in 1987. When her predecessor and dear friend, Sala Burton, was ready to step down, she encouraged Pelosi to run for the seat. Although she loved public service, Pelosi had never been interested in running for Congress. But 1 in 5 children in America lived in poverty, and as a woman with 5 children of her own, Pelosi could not just ignore this statistic. She had to take action. In 1987, there were 25 women serving in Congress, and Pelosi was one of them.
Pelosi recalls the challenges she faced as one of 25 women in Congress in 1987. She saw some of herself and her struggles in Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to be elected to Congress, who said that she faced much more discrimination in her political career because she was a woman than for her race. Pelosi overcame each obstacle thrown her way with grace, grit, and intelligence, and in 2007, she became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House. Pelosi recalls how when some of the male congressional members found out she was running for the position, they asked “Who gave her permission to run?” With her chin held high, Pelosi told them that she didn’t need any man’s permission to run, and she was right. Pelosi told her peers not to vote for her because she was a woman, but not to hold it against her either. “When women succeed, America succeeds,” she says.
As Speaker of the House, Pelosi was determined to diversify congressional leadership. Not for the sake of DEI, she explains, but for the sake of the quality of decisions being made. Pelosi recognized that diversity of thought is a crucial element of quality decision-making and leveraged her position to bring a broader range of perspectives into the process. Pelosi felt (and still feels) a large responsibility to the women who came before her—the women who fought for the right to vote in the first place—and the women who will follow. So, she used her voice to amplify the voices of others. Not just women, but other minorities as well.
Speaker Pelosi has overcome countless obstacles in her career, so not much phases her. But Former President Trump winning the election in 2016 and then refusing to accept the election results in 2020 took her by surprise (to say the least). Leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Speaker Pelosi strongly believed that Hillary Clinton would win the race because she was objectively the more qualified candidate. As we all know, this did not happen, and Donald J. Trump became the 45th president of the United States. “I had more respect for the office he held than he did,” Pelosi said.
Four years later, President Trump lost reelection and refused to accept the results. Instead of carrying out a peaceful transfer of power like every president that came before him, President Trump incited an insurrection at the Capitol Building in order to prevent Speaker Pelosi from certifying the Electoral College results. “It was terrible and violent,” Pelosi remembers. “We pushed furniture against the doors and hid under chairs while rioters screamed ‘We want Pelosi! We want Pelosi!’” There is no doubt that disagreement and dissent lie at the heart of democracy, but on January 6th, the integrity of our democracy was threatened.
Looking forward to the 2024 presidential election coming up in just a couple of weeks, Speaker Pelosi reminds us that the stakes are as high as ever: our children’s safety is at stake, our education system is at stake, a woman's right to choose is at stake, our freedom is at stake. But no matter who emerges as victorious on election day, we have a responsibility to accept the results and unite as Americans. Pelosi is hopeful that with time, Americans will be able to move past their differences and move forward for the sake of American democracy.
And with that, Nancy Pelosi leaves us with one final thought: “The future belongs to you. Be your authentic self and show people what you stand for. You are the future.”
