-The family I was born into was devoutly Catholic,
deeply patriotic, proud of our Italian-American heritage,
and staunchly Democratic.
And we saw our Democratic values as related
to our religious values, quite frankly.
So, it was almost a moral imperative
that we would be community-oriented.
That didn't mean you had to run for office.
-The Honorable Nancy Pelosi of the state of California
is duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.
-It's an historic moment for the Congress.
It's an historic moment for the women of America.
-I think you've written, though, that your mother's aspiration
was that you become a nun, wasn't it?
-She did.
She thought that was the best way
to have the most beautiful spiritual life.
They didn't raise me to be Speaker.
They raised me to be holy.
-First thing I wanted to talk to you about
was just the kind of sheer unlikelihood
that you would be here, in this position,
because people look at you, and they say,
"Oh, well, she was the daughter of the mayor of Baltimore.
Her brother was the mayor of Baltimore.
Surely, she was groomed for this from the minute she was born."
-No!
No, actually, quite to the contrary.
My brother was groomed, and we all loved that
because he's really the loveliest person in the world.
Daily communicant, a beautiful public servant,
my brother Tommy.
But no, I never was, and I never even wanted to be.
I just wanted to be normal.
You know, in other words,
I saw people as families had weekends and things like that.
We were always doing political events, which we loved,
because public service is a noble calling,
and we always had a responsibility to our community.
And our family life was not affected,
but I could see that my father worked constantly.
I was shy, actually.
I loved promoting other people,
but it never interested me to be center stage.
-But when you get to San Fran--
-But I seem to have gotten over it.
-You thought about law school, but you fell in love,
and so those plans went by the wayside.
And you had five babies in six years.
-Almost to the day, mm-hmm.
Four of our five babies were born in New York,
and so, I would be pushing strollers at Halloween time,
giving out, and some of those buildings in New York,
you couldn't pamphlet, you couldn't leaflet in
the buildings for political purposes.
But if you were trick-or-treating
with your children,
and you were leafleting at the same time,
it was a cover.
-In 1985, you decided to run for DNC chair.
And I've gone back and read some of the coverage.
What about just the sheer sexism
of some of the attacks you were getting?
One of my favorite phrases I've read of you
during that '85 race,
that you were an "overbearing player of feminist politics."
-Yeah, maybe. I certainly hope so.
One person's insult I take as a compliment.
But that was new.
This is a long time ago.
If I was called an overbearing feminist 35 years ago,
I would consider that a compliment.
-I read of a labor leader
who called you an airhead. -Yeah.
Who had really been one of my friends in the movement.
But that happened to be one of the best things
that happened to me from a political standpoint
because I think it's really important for people
to know there's nothing as,
shall we say, revealing as having an intraparty fight.
And these were people I had worked with a long time,
and I had really done everything in the party.
I'd been chair of the biggest party.
I had organized the delegate selection.
I had run a convention.
I've done almost every piece of it.
Written a platform that was actually mainstream platform,
as chair of the California Democratic Party.
So, I had done everything that you do in the party.
It was instructive.
So, when I ran for Congress,
and people started attacking me, I was ready.
I wouldn't have been ready if I hadn't run for chair
because in some instances, it was like,
"Well, these are people I've worked with.
Why are they attacking me,
saying things that aren't really even so?"
Because other people are advancing me for chair.
So, the best thing was that run.
When I eventually decided to run for Congress,
people would call me and say,
"Did you hear what so-and-so said?
Did you hear" -- I said, "Don't call me about that.
Don't waste my time.
I have to win this election.
If you have energy that you want to expend,
go knock on doors or send out postcards or raise money
or call your friends to vote for me.
But don't call me to tell me
that somebody that should be our friend
is saying something demeaning, because I'm ready for that."
-When you make your decision to do the thing that
you said you would never do, which is run for office --
-Well, I never envisioned myself doing it, no.
-It is Sala Burton tragically --
I didn't realize until recently --
I was looking through the stories --
how young she was when she was stricken.
-Well, first of all, I didn't realize she was dying.
I knew that she was ill.
And what she had said to me is, "You know,
I don't think I want to do this again.
I want to spend time with my grandchild" at the time
"and you should run for my job."
I said, "But, Sala" -- "You should run for Congress."
I said, "Well, there's no opening."
And she said, "Well, I want to spend more time with family.
I'm not gonna run again.
So, I want you to run, and I want to give you my support,
and I want to know if you will accept that."
And I said, "Well, I'd have to talk to my family"
and this or that.
Now, four of my kids are in college.
One was going to be a senior in high school.
That was Alexandra.
And so, I went to Alexandra.
I said, "Alexandra, Mommy may have the opportunity
to run for Congress.
What that would entail is that I'd be gone,
like, three nights a week, four days.
But any answer from you would be okay with me."
And she said, "Mother" -- so,
I knew I was in trouble right there --
"Mother, get a life."
I guess I had limited experience
with people toward the end of life
because she didn't seem that way.
She was robust. Her voice was strong.
And she called in her brother-in-law, John Burton,
who would become the chair of my campaign,
and some other folks that were close to her.
She called them to her bedside.
"I've called you all here because I want to ask Nancy
if she will run for my seat
because I'm not going to seek re-election.
And if she says yes,
then I'm going to give her my endorsement,
and I want all of you to support her, as well.
I want your answer now, Nancy.
Will you run for this seat?"
Then, just shortly thereafter, she passed away.
And we were in a campaign.
And seven weeks later was the primary day.
And I won.
And every time I'm introduced as the most powerful woman
in American history, it breaks my heart
because I think, "We should have a president.
We could have had a president."
My disappointment goes back to 2016.
Hillary Clinton was our nominee, one of the best-prepared people
to be president of the United States in a long time.
President Bush -- I love the Bushes,
but she was better prepared.
Her own husband --
she was better prepared for so many reasons.
Probably go back to "Papa" Bush,
because he was a vice president and all these other things.
Hillary Clinton advanced the ball way down the field.
These candidates, each one of them,
knew her purpose, her why, her what, her how.
They all were excellent,
and I think gave women the confidence
that a woman could do this job,
and gave the American people, beyond women,
a woman could do the job.
But it's a competitive arena.
You have to win. You know?
You just have to win.
I don't think people should be disappointed
that a woman didn't win. Oh, yes.
But rejoice in the fact that we had so many
and that they have again cleared the path for many more women.
When I was running for my first leadership position,
the last thing that anybody who was supporting me could say
to somebody to get his or her vote was,
"You should vote for Nancy because she's a woman."
I didn't run as a woman.
I ran again as a seasoned politician
and an experienced legislator.
It just so happens that I am a woman,
and we have been waiting a long time for this moment.
So, I always say to people,
"Being a woman, yes, you're a woman.
That's self-evident.
Now show what else you have to offer."
And that's why when women come here,
and I want them all to have a security credential,
whether its Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence,
Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security,
issues within other committees that focus on defense,
because that's an important credential for a woman to have.
It's not just about issues that relate
that you would think women's issues.
Yes, they're important, but we consider
every issue a woman's issue.
And it is pretty exciting.
Ten of our freshmen women are chairs of subcommittees --
not 8 men, 10 women.
And the Watergate babies, when they came,
not one of them had a gavel in the first year.
So, we've opened the door to have these people rise up,
gain standing on their issues, more reputation,
so they're better known, and further down the road,
should they seek higher office.
When we have a woman president --
and it will be soon --
it will not only be great for America.
It will be great for the world.
I know what my position as Speaker has done with girls
and fathers of girls and moms just saying,
"This means so much" because they see a path for themselves.
But imagine president of the United States.
So, we should not be insecure about it all.
We have to be proud of what has happened,
build on that, and we will.
We will have a woman president.
I don't know who it will be, but I know --
hopefully it will be soon so I no longer will be introduced
as the most powerful woman in electoral history in America.