(photo by John Zipperer)Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and the third person in the line of succession in the federal government, spoke to The Commonwealth Club of California this afternoon about appreciating and using power in one's personal and professional lives.
Pelosi, in conversation with Commonwealth Club President and CEO Dr. Gloria Duffy (at right in photo above), discussed her steady rise to political prominence from a San Francisco housewife and mother to the leader of her party in Congress (and the highest-ranking woman in American politics). She said she wrote her book, Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters, partly to get out of having to explain her history to everyone who asks but also to encourage more women to get involved in leadership positions, and of course to inspire girls to aim high when making life plans.
Pelosi concluded the discussion by praising her interviewer, noting the prominent role in American policy and public thought that Duffy has played, both at The Commonwealth Club and earlier at the Defense Department.
In 2007, Duffy wrote about getting to know Pelosi back in 1985 when the two of them were part of a bipartisan fact-finding mission to Nicaragua, where they met with Sandinistas and Contras and others. You can read a PDF of the article, "Dedicated Woman" (January 2007) here.
