Sister Insider

Nancy Pelosi, the first and so far only female speaker of the House and the most powerful woman in U.S. politics ever, reminds me of that quip about Ginger Rogers, who did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels. In Pelosi’s case, four-inch heels. Pelosi possesses to a high degree the qualities we associate, not always correctly, with mighty politicians, most of whom have been men: endless energy, a ferocious work ethic, deep institutional knowledge, a sixth sense for strategy, a thick skin, charisma. But she is also conventionally feminine, in an old-fashioned mode: beautifully dressed, impeccably groomed, a little formal, soft-spoken, tending to her personal and political relationships with a shower of little notes and phone calls.

The Ginger Rogers paradox is that without ego and ambition Pelosi would not be a Democratic Party powerhouse, but female ego and ambition quickly earn a woman the dreaded label of “unlikeable.” Throughout her long career, Pelosi has had to achieve like a man while behaving like a woman, down to her daily hair appointment. As Hillary Clinton discovered, that’s not so easy. Love her or loathe her—and she is loathed by both right (San Francisco liberal!) and left (corporate sellout!)—that Pelosi has managed to perform this dance for 33 years in Congress and counting is quite a feat.

Molly Ball’s Pelosi gives us an informative, readable, and detailed—maybe a little too detailed—account of Pelosi’s career and her rise up the ranks from first woman minority whip to first woman minority leader to—finally—twice speaker of the House. It’s full of telling anecdotes that show how far Pelosi’s come and how much America has changed. Who would have dreamed that the high school debater whose team drew the topic “Do women think?” would be running Congress one day? But Ball, a national political correspondent for Time magazine and a veteran political reporter, also shows how Pelosi’s political outlook was set early on:

Like so many American Catholics, she worshipped then-Senator John F. Kennedy… Kennedy’s appeal was lofty and ideological, rooted in patriotism and faith. It would become the model for Nancy’s evolving political orientation—Catholic social justice with a hint of noblesse oblige.

Ball offers a guide to the ins and outs of some important battles, from Pelosi’s opposition to the Iraq War and her crucial role in passing the Affordable Care Act to the clever way she psychologically maneuvered Donald Trump into taking full responsibility for the 2018-19 government shutdown. Now that a revived left accuses Pelosi of cowardice and centrism, it’s useful to be reminded of her strong record as a liberal, and also that that her job as leader was only in part to rack up virtuous wins. It was also to work behind the scenes to marshal votes and count them accurately, to find and exploit legislative loopholes, and to structure deals that would let House Democrats from more conservative districts win their next election. Sometimes, she had to compromise when she could see no alternative. A fierce defender of women’s reproductive rights, she had tears in her eyes when she had to tell her pro-choice women colleagues that abortion would not be covered in the Affordable Care Act. (Barack Obama does not come off well in Ball’s account, by the way, preferring to court Republicans rather than turn to liberal Democrats. Yet Pelosi is reviled by people who adore Obama…I wonder why.) (...)

Like many women of her generation and later, Pelosi noted the ways in which her mother was constrained and at some level must have decided not to let that happen to her. Still, in the pre-feminist era, it took a while for Pelosi to find her way. Growing up she was the family’s petted and protected Italian Catholic princess. Her parents even thought she might become a nun. Instead, at 23, she married her college boyfriend, Paul Pelosi, and had five children in six years. Take that, Amy Coney Barrett! Interestingly, she followed the pattern recommended by some conservative women: early marriage and motherhood, and then career. This can work if you’re lucky, financially secure, and well-connected, and don’t have your heart set on, say, medical school. But she also followed the recommendation of many feminists, and chose a husband who, unlike her father, was able to let his wife stand in the limelight and shine. It didn’t hurt that Paul made a fortune in real estate, venture capital, and other businesses. Today the Pelosis are worth around $97 million, according to Politifact. Amazingly enough, that makes her only the 24th richest House member.

by Katha Pollitt, Democracy Journal |  Read more:

Image: uncredited