Nancy Pelosi
Appearances
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And you don't know this because they were young, but he was very different from the music that went before. Yes, of course. The scribbling hips and the wah, wah, wah, wah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I thought, if my parents ever said... Oh, I wouldn't even have paid attention to them. That would be ridiculous. So, no, I don't want to stand in the way of anybody's freedom of choice of the music.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
So, you know, by the way, just a little bit of gossip.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I've seen a long list of people that she has. Yes, she has a long list of guys. She has a long list, and she's so absolutely wonderful. She is wonderful. But she, again, is talented when we're talking about music and that we dance, we dance around the clock and all this. You're a deadhead. Well, that came a lot later.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
One of the things that I love is that some years after, say, into the 90s, I saw this purse. I said, yeah, I haven't seen that purse in a long time. So I took it off the shelf, and in it, say, maybe the beginning of the 2000s, there was a button that said, Deadheads for Dukakis. Yes. Like 20 years later, Deadheads for Chicago. Oh, I hope you save that. I just don't know where it is right now.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Oh, you've got to find it. That's really good. That's so retro, sort of. But when you think of it, it was a political statement. Of course, it was. How do you blow off steam? I do crossword puzzles. I have been doing them forever, and I find that my zone. You know, when I'm doing a puzzle and somebody comes up to me, I'm like, ah, you scared me. It was in my zone. So yeah, I do that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I love any form of entertainment, live or movies or whatever.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And my husband, Paul, he loves every form of music. In any given week, we'll be with the Grateful Dead, Cyndi Lauper, or the symphony, the opera, or the ballet, you know, or the movies. Yeah, that's nice. Right. I think the arts, the reason I say that, I think the arts are going to be our salvation. You know that because you're a master of this. But this is one place where people come together and
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Whatever their difference is, they enjoy a painting, a symphony, a movie, a play, whatever it is, and they forget their differences. Even for a short period of time, they realize they have some common ground. They've laughed together. They've cried together. They have been inspired together. And that's a start. Yeah, it is a start. And that's a start.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And it is really one source of hope to me are the arts. Yeah. Yes. President Lincoln, such an inspiration. Notice I mentioned a Republican president. Yes, I do.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
He said public sentiment is everything. With it, you can accomplish almost anything. Without it, practically nothing. You mentioned the Affordable Care Act. It was such a triumph. Yes. And that was inside maneuvering, yes, but the outside mobilization, having all the people who wanted that to happen to be mobilizing.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
In elections, the door-to-door and the technology reaching out to people, it's all about the outside. So any... legislation, any political goal that I set out for, is always about the outside mobilization. The VIPs, the volunteers in politics, the very important people are those people out there.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Whether they're individuals who want to help or whether they're part of a group, a diagnosis group, a this or that, they make it happen. And so that's kind of where I... think first, how will the people embrace what we're trying to do and how do we use all of our energy to engage them in this?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Well, I always say that... and this wasn't my initiation, but something that I worked with, is the fight against HIV and AIDS. When I first came to Congress, those were the first words I uttered on Congress. I know. Here to fight against HIV and AIDS. And I pay tribute to those fighting, largely the LGBTQ community, but others who were involved in that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And I thank them for their patriotism, because it was a harder fight. You know, it was a tough fight to do the Affordable Care Act, but In this case, we had to fight discrimination in addition to fighting for resources and the rest. Yes, of course. And you're never always teaching. You're always learning. And we learned a lot from the anti-HIV AIDS community about that outside mobilization.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And I think what they did at that time to help us with the funding for care, prevention, and research, plus trying to end discrimination, Our lesson to others and other diagnoses and all the rest, breast cancer and the rest, we all learned about that from them. And they learned from us about how it would work for us to be successful, and we were.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
But on the Affordable Care Act, for example, though— We were on our path. It was a challenging thing because there were those who were anti-government. They don't want a government role. There were those who just were the special interests, the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the rest of that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
So when we sadly lost Ted Kennedy, when he passed away, the press said to me at the next press conference, well, it's over for you. Because a Republican has been elected in his place, you no longer have 60 votes. So when they said so, that's the end, right? I said, no. We realize that having access to affordable, quality health care... Right. Right.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
We're going to succeed, and we will not let anything stand in our way. If there's an obstacle there, we will push open the gate. If that doesn't work, we'll climb the fence. If that doesn't work, we'll pole vault in. If that doesn't work, we will helicopter in. But we're not letting anything stand in the way.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Are you taking your own advice right now? Well, it's very hard. I have to say every morning when I awaken, I think, did that really happen? Yeah. Oh, it did. But I see everything differently. Julia, as an opportunity. Right. It's an opportunity. Now, there are better opportunities, I'll grant you. Right. But nonetheless, it's all an opportunity.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And just as an example, from 2016, right within 36 hours of that election, we formed our initiative to save the Affordable Care Act. This new president-elect has said, Obamacare sucks. Forgive my language, but I'm just quoting. No, I know you're quoting, but also you can say whatever you want to me.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
We, again, within 36 hours of this election, this November, initiated our health care to save the Affordable Care Act. It's a health issue, of course. It's a financial health issue, too, for people at their kitchen table to know they're going to be able to afford health care, their prescription drugs, insurance, and the rest of that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And we will be launching much of it, as we did in 2017, now in 2025. So we will do that again, and it is even more so because Affordable Care Act is even more popular now than it was then.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Despite being attacked by them here, there, and from the right, from the left, and every other place, I had over a quarter of a million votes. And that was a big deal. The most have been in California, but I don't know. And the rest of the country haven't looked. But what I say to people is to know their strengths, to know their power, the power of you, Julia. Know your power. Know your power.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
That's the thing. And the power of what you bring to the table. But if you're going to be in this arena, you have to know your why because this is not for the faint of heart. If you want to be running for office or striving for some position in whatever field you're in— If it's a competition for power in any way, you will be a target. Have you always known your power?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
See, I never really thought about running for office. Never. Never thought about it. I mean, I'm a shy person, really. Yeah, you don't give off shy right now. That's the way I was before. I loved public service. I was taught that when we were children. We were all taught public service is a noble calling. Politics is a piece of that. Yeah.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And so I was chair of the California Democratic Party, which I thought was the biggest honor I could ever have, the biggest state party. Because it was. It was so huge. And then the woman was there. I was. And I go to these meetings. I'm the chair of the biggest party in the country.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
But I was behind the scenes promoting the agenda at the candidates, the campaigns of the Democrats, especially the candidates. But I never thought of myself as being center stage. So that—when you ask that question, it— It wasn't that I know my power. I knew my why. I knew why I was doing what that was. And I always say to people, know your why.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
If you know your why, you can take all the slings and arrows they want to send your way because you know why you're doing this.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And my why is the one and only child in America who lives in poverty and goes to sleep hungry at night. That's what took me from housewife, housemember to house speaker, knowing that. So when people want to be involved, I'll say, know your power, know your strengths. And they are manifold, even if you're not thinking that they are. Understand that they are.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Know the power of you, the only person in the history of the world like you. So know, be you, the authenticity of you is what is a strength. You may admire other people, want to be like, or, you know, be mentored by, it's all good, but be you. Okay, know your power, be you. And then when the opportunity presents itself, and you never know when, you'll be ready.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Well, let me clarify what we're saying here. First of all, in answer to that question, no. What happened was— He came in and was very disrespectful of the Congress. And he talked politics. This is about policy. It's about governance. So on the first page, I thought, oh, he's not telling the truth there. So I make a notch wherever he wasn't, a tear.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
The next page, the next page, the next page, the next page. So I would make a tear every place that I thought he was not telling the truth.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And so I realized as we were getting into the speech that it was every page. It was every page. It was horrible. It was a manifesto of misrepresentations in my view. So at the end, I thought, I have to tear this up now. I thought my staff never—we've never discussed it under any circumstance. This is a completely different thing. So I thought they're really going to be—
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
because I haven't discussed this with anybody like that. I didn't even plan it until he gave this horrible speech. But I have received, of all the things, in terms of passing affordable care, all kinds of proud legislation that we have passed to make a difference in people's lives, more people talk about tearing up the speech or pointing to him in the room or walking out of the White House.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
More people, they said, you took the words right out of my mouth when you tore up that speech. I mean, all over the world. Yeah, I know. When I've traveled all over the world, people will be like this. Really?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
He did not respect. Now, getting back to your point, though, about... instinct and all of that. What I do talk about in my book, and I want women to take real pride in for themselves, is that Women have an intuition. We used to call it women's intuition way back when in the day. But there's an intuition.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Never was. Never was, never will be. So when you're a member of Congress, you act in a deductive way. You have hearings. You have public comment. So when you're there to go vote, it's not like you have to vote in a minute. You've had time. to absorb and learn and exchange ideas and this or that, or just be further reinforced in your point of view in terms of your vision and your values. Yes.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
But when you're an executive, for example, a speaker is an executive, right? Some things happen that are not about a vote on the floor. They're just something that happens that requires action right away. If you're the president, the governor, the speaker, the mayor, you have to act right away. So you have to be prepared. You have to have knowledge.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
So when something happens, your intuition, say, trust your gut. Don't trust your gut unless your gut has knowledge, has strategy, has values, knows what it wants to do. Be prepared. Be prepared and act. Intuitively, not deductively, intuitively. And the reason that's important is because, Julia, if you were going to make a decision, you thought, well, maybe this, maybe that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
All the other people will exercise their how to promote their own agenda. And pretty soon your idea is greatly diminished. If they know you're going to act right. They'll respect that. And nine times out of ten, because you know the subject, you know the strategy, you know the path, nine times out of ten, you'll be fine, and that's a good average. That's a really good average.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yeah. You make your decision happen.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
No, I was ready. Really? I was ready. That's what I say. Be ready. Just be ready. And...
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yeah. Yes. Right. But see, that's why I say to women, know your power. Know your why. Be ready. Be ready because... You can't miss that opportunity. Now, if I go someplace and I don't have to speak, I'm as happy as I can be. Just relax. I went to a funeral service the other day, and I was enjoying what people were saying, and I thought, oh, this is so lovely.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And then they introduced me, and I'm like, hey, nobody told me. But, of course, I couldn't—I had to get up and do it. That speaks volumes that you can actually relax, and you were at a funeral. Oh, my God. No, and then they introduced—and I thought, who is he introducing? That sounds like me. Oh, my God, it is. Did you have to speak, or could you just wave? No, I had to then get up and speak.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
But I knew the subject very well. It didn't bother me at all, but just be ready. It is funny because— you are in the attraction business. You're in the entertainment business, the attraction business. We in politics like to think that we are in the attraction business, but we really aren't. But actually, you kind of are.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I mean, we would like to think that we are, but we're not professionals on the attraction side of it. Well,
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Exactly. And you experienced that in that role as to what it took as that person, as the beep and the president to do that. And you were experienced because... That's what you do.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I would say about her, as I would say of any of the women of her generation, that they We're early. In other words, if they were now, for example, my children or grandchildren, they could take over the world. What did she do for your dad? What was she doing behind the scenes? volunteers in politics, the mobilization piece.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And it was interesting to me because they were, well, we lived in the Italian section of Baltimore, and it was very democratic in the rest. As time went by, though, when you see, along comes George McGovern, and I loved telling him this story. Along comes George McGovern, who's, well, they were progressive, but he was, you know, much more so. I loved George It was wonderful.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And I said, you know, I've never been proud of my parents in politics is when they just went all out for George McGovern.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yeah, he did. Oh, I didn't realize that. Yeah. You know, one of my regrets is I will never host at Saturday Night Live. I'm really funny. Well, Nancy, let's go. No, it's over. No, no, it's not. No, it's not too late. It's too late. I wouldn't even think of it. I'm going to convince her. You would be fantastic. No, no, no. I'm going to work on your audition with you, okay? No, no. Yes, I am.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
You said be prepared. I have crossed the bridge.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Will you tell? When Bill Clinton became president, I was in Congress since 87. He went in in 93. And every time he made an appointment of a woman, she would clip it from the paper and send it and said, please tell her how happy it made me. Because she really...
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
New in her own life, really, but not in a resentful way, but just in an acknowledging way that women were so underutilized in our society, in our government, in every way, and that the president would be making these appointments. Yes. It was such a source of joy. And I remember telling some of those women, you made my mother so happy. You didn't know her.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
She didn't know you, but you were a source of joy.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yeah. Yeah, always praying. Oh, my God. Prayer was a big part of our existence. So, yeah. But it is—here's the thing. Yeah. Again, we don't agonize. We organize. Women—and I speak to women all the time and just say— I know this is hard. This is not for the faint of heart. You put yourself out there, you become a target. That's just the way it is.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
But understand how necessary it is for you to do that. As you said earlier, this isn't to take the place of men. It's to be there at the table with that diversity. And I tell them the story of when I went to my first meeting at the White House as leader. And I wasn't nervous or anything because I'd been to the White House many times as an appropriator, as an intelligence leader, all that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And this was under George W. Bush. George W. Bush. And so when I went, the door opened into the room. And as soon as I saw the room, I knew that this was the first meeting of its kind that I had ever been to. In fact, it was the first meeting of its kind that any woman had been to because it was – The president, vice president, the leaders, House and Senate, Democrat and Republican.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
It wasn't like a cabinet meeting, which is wonderful, but everybody is appointed by the president there at the president's will. I was there at the will of the House Democrats. So two different branches of government. And he recognized that. He said, you know, he started welcoming me. And here's the first time we've ever had a woman president.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
at a meeting like this, and I know we're going to hear some new ideas. And as he's going on like that, I felt very crammed in in my chair. I couldn't understand why it never happened before or since. Very crammed into my chair. And all of a sudden, I realized it was Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Alice Paul. Everybody was on that chair with me.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
They were right there. And I could hear them say, at last, we have a seat at the table. Yeah. And then they were gone. And my first response was, we want more. We want more women. We want more diversity and the rest. But the lesson, the reason I tell the story is I'm standing on their shoulders. Imagine they started in the middle of the 19th century for women to have the right to vote. Vote.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
It took a long time, and it's been a long time. I'm standing on their shoulders, all of us in Congress are standing on their shoulders, and others are standing on ours. When I first went to Congress, there were 23 women, 12 Democrats, 11 Republicans, out of 435 members of the House. What the hell? What is this?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
So we made a decision on our side that we would reach out, that we would— We would fund. We would mentor, teach, all the rest of that. Some people self-recruited, and that was beautiful. In this Congress, we had 96 Democratic women, 96. The Republicans got up to 30-something, I think. But we had three times that. We want more.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And then, of course, we want to see women, whatever it is, whether it's security, whether it's corporate America, whether it's academia, whatever it is. Entertainment, whatever it is, we want to see more women in leadership roles making those decisions. I know. Think of it. This is in 2005. Right. More than 150 years since they started with a woman having the right to vote.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
By the way, I'm wearing a suffragette necklace today. Good, good, good, good.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
We owe them so much. We do. We owe them so much, and we all have a responsibility to be suffragists as we move them forward. There's lots more we have to get done. And we have to, at some point, have a woman president.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Well, first of all, poor Paul. I mean, wonderful Paul. This marriage was not something he bargained for. Is this your way of giving him an out right now? No. No, it's just how we laugh about it. Yeah. But see, before, my thought was that I was going to law school and I was going to do this, that. Then I got married, had five children, six years, seven days.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Serious. Why did you cut it off at five? Did you think you might have more or that was it then? No, I think five was it. I mean, there are all kinds of things that were going on at that very same time. And by the way, as I say to women, when you're taking inventory of your accomplishments, give yourself a gold star for being a mom because there's no multitasking.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Endeavor like that. Nothing. Nothing like it. Nothing like it. You're called upon to do everything all the time. Right. Yeah, and at first years, it was all about the kids. I didn't even have a chance to wash my face sometimes. When you have five little children crawling around, you don't even have time to wash your face. Yeah, right.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
But you're so hardworking, I guess, so intensely involved that once they're in school all day, you think you're going to save the world. Right. Right? Yeah. You've been taking care of five children all day. And we had our systems and all the rest of that about how we would spend time at the park and this and that. And now they're in school all day. Oh, my gosh.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Is that when you became library commissioner? No, no. They were little when I became that. Oh, I see. So that wasn't as demanding a time as being the chair of the party or something like that. Right, right, right. I'll show you a picture one of these days of my getting sworn in. They're crawling on the table. They're crawling under the table. They were little kids, the little ones. So the first—
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Then they were in school all day, and then I could take responsibility to do some other things. And, well, here's what happened. I was somewhat active politically, you know, for friends who were running for office, this or that. Not much, but a little bit. And Jerry Brown decided that he was going to run for president of the United States. Right. This is 1976. Right.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Jerry Brown said he's going to run for president of the United States. My very close friend in politics, Leo McCarthy, was the Speaker of the House at the time, chair of Jerry Brown's presidential campaign. I said to Leo, tell the governor if he wants to run for president, he cannot wait until— the California primary, which is in June, very late in the process.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Because by then, somebody will be the nominee for the party. They will then take control of the California Democratic Party because they will be able to choose who are the delegates to the convention, all of that. That's how it worked in those days. So there was a—this may be more than you ever want to know, but as I say to people, be ready. You never know.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
So in Maryland, they had something that the Secretary of State, the law, said that if anybody is a candidate in any state— they would be on the Maryland ballot. So I said to Leo, Leo, tell the governor... Get on the ballot. Stay on the ballot in Maryland. Right. Stay on the ballot and we can win this. I mean, I was a housewife. But I said, you know, my brother had recently been mayor.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
My friend was a county executive there, Ted Venatoulis, my brother, Thomas Del San. We had... Grassroots. You have to have the grassroots organized. We had the grassroots organized. He's the star. I mean, he was so fabulous. He was middle 30s. He was like 36. Oh, my God. Almost a Jesuit priest, too, by the way. All that. And when he came to Maryland, he was spectacular. He was? Spectacular.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
He was drawing crowds. We were breaking down walls of hotels and everything to the street. The crowds were turning out for Jerry. Wow. And we won Maryland. Mm-hmm. And when we went back to California, people were like, what? How did that happen? And he said, at this big welcoming event, Nancy Pelosi was the political director of my Maryland campaign. Which is true. Which was true.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
But he never usually would. Yes.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And so one thing, then they were like, you have to be chair of the party here. You have to do this. So one thing led to another. So when I became the whip, which was the race that made the difference, I just said, I'm going forward into the leadership role. And people said, men said, who said she could run? I was like, please light my fire, why don't you? Yes, I said I could run, okay?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
So in any case, Jerry came for my swearing. It was a big deal. A woman was being sworn in as whip the first time, anything like that. He said, I made this happen. No, I made you happen. I fit in. Oh, God. So anyway, you just never know in the course of events how some place, your talent, your experience, your whatever it is, just takes off.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yes. I will answer the way I say everything. Public sentiment is everything. The public has to be—a public sentiment to prevail, people have to know. And they have to know where this vitriol is coming from. People say to me, oh, you're in a gridlock. I say, we're not in a gridlock. We're in obstruction. This isn't mutual disagreement here. This is initiated by them. Yeah, I agree.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
For years, I had been the target, dressed like a devil, horns, cloven feet— What they did to Hillary Clinton in the 90s when she was first lady and the Clinton, they have used this because they are bankrupt of ideas and they have to take other people down. Right. So I make no apology for saying this is not mutual. It is instigated by them, and that's who they are and where they are.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
When my husband was attacked, the sanctity of our home was violated, his personal safety was violated. to the point of we don't even know if he's going to survive, they laughed. They told jokes on their websites. Believe me, I heard it. The governor of Virginia, the Republican governor, Elon Musk, all of them, they thought that was really funny. Right.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I mean, really, how much more do people have to know? So we don't have shared values when it comes to – to understanding the responsibility. We want people to have trust in government. We want them to be involved in it. We don't want them to see all that mess and think, oh, I can't wait to be a part of that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
We want them to see it as something where since the beginning of our country, we've had disagreements about the role of government, the role of a central government, and that is a legitimate debate of a democracy. It is not the basis for the politics of personal destruction. But make no mistake, this is... a Republican agenda. I agree with that. And I don't know any Democrats who engage in that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I really don't. Maybe somebody comes to call and tell me somebody wants that they heard, but I don't know any Democrats who engage in that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
It's a source of hope for us. That's right. You wouldn't do it this way. The common grounds that we find in the arts gives us hope. People say, where is hope? I said, hope is sitting everywhere it always has been, right between faith and charity. Faith in the goodness of others gives people hope that we can find our common ground.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
It's always the same thing. Know your why. Why are you doing what you're doing? Okay. Is there something you wish you'd spent less time on, Nancy? I'd have to spend some time thinking about that. Maybe I should have spent more time. People have said to me,
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
When I was chair of the party and I'd be dragging bags up the middle of the street to the post office to get in the mail in time for an election, why don't you have somebody else do that and go home and comb your hair and fix up your face?
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yeah, exactly. We always just say self-promotion is a terrible thing, but somebody's got to do it. And last question, is there something that you would like me to know about aging? About aging? Yeah. It's something that has to be embraced. Hopefully it is inevitable. Yes. And it is... It can really be a joy. For me, it has been a joy. Yes. But aging is a long way off for you.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Well, bless your heart, but it ain't. Look forward to it with joy. And just remember that we have responsibilities to the future, no matter what our age is. Yes. The experiences that we have add to that responsibility. But I would say to you what I would say to somebody 21 years old. Keep knowing your why. Be ready for whatever comes next. And know the power of you. And share that with others.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
It's my pleasure. Again, let me just close by saying what fans we all are of yours, not only because you're a talented actress and you have the power to move us, to make us laugh and the rest, but also your personal story is such an inspiration. Thank you. And your being an inspiration gives people hope.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Thank you. Remember when you came to the White House for the French president with your father? Yeah, I sure do. I sure do. He was so proud of you. Yeah. You on his arm. I know. It was crazy. That was amazing. That was amazing. I'm so happy. Seeing the two of you together, seeing you with your father and the pride he took in you and the joy that you had being with him was such a...
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yeah, that was a source of joy to the rest of us.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Well, I know he must have— one born in France, been excited about seeing the French president. But to the rest of us, the joy we saw was him having you on his arm and coming in there proud of his daughter. Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
No, darling. I'm good. I still have some in my hand.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Thank you, Julia. It is such a pleasure and an honor and a privilege to be with you. I bring the greetings of so many of your friends that they didn't know I was coming here, but I always volunteer. Isn't she the best? Oh, that's nice.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
And, of course, in my own family. But just starting where you began about the power of women to make a difference. Yes. People always ask me as speaker because the speaker has awesome, awesome power. Yeah. If you ruled the world, what one thing would you do? And I always say the same thing, the education of women and girls. Period.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
It makes a complete difference to us, the person, the family, the community, the society, the country. The country. And our expression here, and I think it applies every place, is when women succeed, America succeeds. That's right. And the same to others as well.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yeah. What is it? Well, when you're in politics, everybody knows your age, which is okay with me, but not always okay with my classmates. How old are you, Nancy? Eighty-four. Eighty-four. And how old do you feel? Oh, I feel—I don't have any— A sense of age. You don't? No. I eat a lot of chocolate ice cream, very dark. Yes. I do things like that that just kept me going.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yes, that's what it is. Yes.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Is that all right? No, let's do that. I prefer that to any title. Actually, I love sounding my own name. Don't you? Yeah, sure. Julia. I don't know. Experience teaches you a lot of things. Yeah. Your own... Not only experience in terms of getting a job done, but the experiences that you have had, the joy of your family, the sense of satisfaction of working with other people.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I don't ever remember feeling older.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Yeah, and I don't have enough hours in the day. That's my own regret. It's not a regret. It's just a comment. I wish there were more hours in the day because there are more things I want to do. Yeah. But it's time to go to sleep.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
No, I just got off the plane, so I'm wearing boots. You're wearing boots with heels, though.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
No. Well, see, most of the shoes I have are suede. They're like bedroom slippers to me. They're very soft. Oh, that's nice. And I'm not in my office long enough to take off my shoes. You don't touch base, do whatever it is, and out the door. And out the door. Again.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Well, that's a matter of opinion. Some people think they don't have any good food at all. Right. I myself have never been offended by a good hot dog. And they have hot dogs that are pretty good. I eat a lot of hot dogs. So they say chocolate ice cream for breakfast, hot dog for lunch. This is not a good diet. You are blowing my mind.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
Even though you had served as vice president and president.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I kind of loved it. Well, see, you're so much younger. For me, there was no other option. I loved it, yes, but it wasn't even a consideration. And then when I was going to college, my parents were very much like, you will go to an all-women's, all-girls college, Catholic, not too far from home. So I went to Trinity College in Washington, D.C., 45 minutes from home. But it was wonderful.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
I wonder now, looking back, if I had real choice there. But I loved it at the time. What kind of girl were you in high school? Were you a leader in high school? No. You weren't? No, I mean, I was a student. You mean you were a good student? You studied hard? I studied, but I have always kind of been into music. I was Elvis all the way when I was in high school. It was Elvis Presley.
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Gets Wise with Nancy Pelosi
When I was at one of the conventions a few years ago, the reporter said to me, have you ever tried to influence the music that your children or grandchildren listen to? Mm-hmm. And I said, absolutely, positively not. For example, when I was a teenager, Elvis Presley came on the scene. He was king, right? He was king.