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Also this month, she'll be talking up her new book, Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters (Doubleday, $23.95), a "collection of thoughts" about her life climbing the political ladder. In her Capitol Hill office, she gave Reader's Digest a peek into how she handles politics while keeping her wits.
Q: You and your husband, Paul, got married when you were in your 20s. He probably wasn't assuming that his wife would someday be Speaker of the House.
A: It wasn't in the plan. But I think Paul's great respect and love for his mother enabled him to have respect for his wife and whoever she ended up becoming.
Q: Before you were even dating, Paul asked you to pick up his shirts at the laundry-and you didn't.
A: I totally forgot!
Q: And after you married, he gave you a shirt to iron.
A: I didn't iron his shirt either. He said, "Can you iron this?" I said, "Yeah, give it to me." I ended up rolling it up into a ball and putting it in a drawer. Years later, someone found that shirt and said, "What is this doing here?"
Q: When you first came to Washington, you said it was a city of the status quo. Do you still believe that?
A: People make a living here by keeping things the way they've been. But it's changing. For the first time in 32 years, we passed legislation to reduce carbon emissions. For the first time in ten years, we raised the minimum wage [now $6.55 an hour]. We're opening up the place to the freshest thinking.
Q: You went to the White House for the first time as a member of the congressional leadership in 2001 and said later that you experienced an almost physical sensation that the chair you were sitting in was crowded-with other women.
A: You look back and see those who have gone before you. You look forward and see your responsibility to those of the future. My role in politics is a continuation and an enhancement of my role as a mother and grandmother. Concern about children makes every issue a woman's issue. It's all connected for me.
Q: If you could offer one bit of advice …
A: I recommend having no regrets.
In Know Your Power, Pelosi shares some humble advice:
Laugh at yourself. One day, out of the blue, my daughter, Alexandra, said, "Mother, I’m really proud of you because you are a pioneer." I said, "Because I’m a woman member of Congress?" "No," she replied. "Because remember when you used to cook, and then you stopped? Well, now hardly anybody cooks, but you were among the first to stop."
Never draw a line in the sand. Regardless of how irritated you are with your opponents, you have to leave an opening for them to find their way back.
Listen carefully. The first time I ran [for a committee seat], I asked a senior member for his vote … His quick response: "Without even knowing who’s in the race, I’m for you." I lost, and that person didn’t vote for me. When I quoted his words back to him, he said, "That’s right -- I was for you, not knowing who was in the race. Once I knew who was in the race, I was for someone else."
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