What Will It Take to Make A Woman President?: Conversations About Women, Leadership and Power (24 page)

MS
: Well, you did a wonderful job. And actually, I have heard your name come up many times, not only just being such an admired woman leader, but also as somebody who could potentially run for president or would make a great president. Is that something that you would ever consider?

NP
: No. Here’s the thing: I didn’t even focus on becoming Speaker, but I knew—as whip, and as leader, and then as Speaker and then leader again—that the cooperation you get from members, which is everything—how you build consensus—has to have no doubt associated with it that it’s anything but for the good of the country. That there isn’t even a slight tinge that there might be some other political agenda at work. This is not for the faint of heart, any of it. You take a vote, you make friends and foes, and everybody has to know that this is a consensus that we build together. I think that’s really important. And nothing could be more of a thrill to me than to represent the people of San Francisco in Congress. To be speaker and have that recognition from my colleagues, and to be the first woman—I’m honored by that. I thought it would be not in furtherance of reaching all of our goals if there was any doubt that I wanted to run for any other office. And I didn’t, so that was easy [
laughs]
. There was no contrivance there; it was like, “Make no mistake: I’ve reached my height” [
laughs]
.

MS
: When you were talking about the importance of a consensus—and certainly in this current climate, that seems really important—what advice do you have on working with people across the aisle whose opinions you may disagree with but who you have to interact with?

NP
: We come to Congress representing our own district. And so does everybody else, so even if you disagree with the manner in which some people present their views and how negative they may be, the fact is, you respect the people who sent them there. They are there, a House of Representatives, and so it’s unimportant what you think of somebody; what is important is that you respect their constituents and the right of that person to represent them. Now, having said that, you know you’re in the marketplace of ideas; that’s how our founders had intended. You depend on the strength of the power of your ideas, the strength of your argument, to compete in this marketplace of ideas to prevail. You know that if you’re going to do something that’s going to have sustainability that you’re going to have to try to build consensus across the aisle, if possible. Go to find common ground; where you can’t, you stand your ground, as I always say. But you always try.

MS
: Looking at Washington right now, it can seem very daunting and it looks like a lot of work to people. What would you say are the positives? What drives you and fuels your work and motivates you every day? What are the joys of doing the work that you’re doing?

NP
: Well, again, there are 435 members in the House, only one from my district, from each of our districts, so that’s a great honor—that is a tremendous honor to be able to speak for the people of your district. So that’s always a joy, and when it isn’t, it’s time to go home. To represent your district in the people’s House—how thrilling, how thrilling. I think
that people have some thought that this gridlock has been there for a long time. It really hasn’t. It’s largely something that has obstructed progress from when President Obama came in and the Republicans declared that they would stop his success, and they did that in a way that I think was harmful to the American people. So it’s not about the niceties of debate; it’s about what are we here to do? If they’re standing in the way of jobs for the American people, then we have to make that fight. And we have differences of opinion on the role of government in whatever it is—the education of our children, the safety and good health of our neighborhoods and of our people, you know, all of that. We believe what we believe, and we respect that other people have different beliefs, but we don’t just roll over and say, “Okay, we all sign up for obstruction.” We just can’t. We can’t govern . . . we’re called the legislative branch; we came to legislate and that’s what we should do. So when people say this and that, I say, “You know what, understand this: the House has always been a competitive arena for the battle of ideas. Anybody who’s here to obstruct progress for our country really should be held accountable for that.” And that’s what we’re dealing with right now.

MS
: Women and young girls can feel very hesitant to speak out or stand out too much. It seems like you’ve always had the courage to speak out for what you believe in. You don’t hold anything back. Where does that come from? How did you develop your inner leader?

NP
: Well, I think a couple of things. I went to all-girls’ schools my whole life, so every model of leadership that I saw was a young girl or a woman, and so there was never any hesitation that women could lead. I know what I believe. And I really think—says she immodestly—one quality that I bring to my role is that I’ve been in Congress awhile, I know the issues, so I think I have good judgment as to what works or what doesn’t and
an institutional memory of what has worked and what hasn’t. It’s also that I have a clear view of what I think our purpose is and that is to make the future better for all of our children, in every way, and that involves national security, our economy, every subject you can name, including those that are directly related, like health and education and environment.

MS
: Are there concrete changes that you would like to see that you think would help foster more women leaders, not just in Washington, but in general? Are there things that you think we can do to increase the numbers?

NP
: Well, I think that really lies inside of every woman. They have to really have confidence in themselves. If women have confidence in themselves, they will have confidence in other women. Sometimes we wonder, what is the support of women, for women? It’s by and large, very large, I think, but sometimes it’s not always there. And sometimes I think it’s because, “Well, I can do that. Why is
she
doing it?” You know, it’s not a zero-sum game—there’s plenty of opportunity for everyone, so there’s no reason to worry about somebody else’s success, either saying you couldn’t do this so she’s better than you, or she’s doing it so you can’t. No, she’s doing it so you
can
. Every piece of advice I give to people is, “Be yourself, know your power, have confidence in what you have to contribute.” If you have all of that, you will respect that in other women and we can just advance this. Now I’ve said to you before: reduce the role of money, increase the level of civility, and women will take these responsibilities. And many more women will say, “Okay, I’ll run. I’m not afraid of needing the money or being . . .” shall we say, “smeared.” A little girl interviewed me this morning, she said, “How did your family deal with all the negative things that the Republicans said about you?” I said, “Well, they didn’t really care that much, because I didn’t really care that much.” What I do care about is that it’s an obstacle to other women entering politics, because they’ll say, “Why
would I do that? I have plenty of options.” And women with plenty of options are just the women that we want to be in politics and government.

MS
: It’s been brought up how remarkable it is that it was not that long ago that women didn’t even have the right to vote. It’s almost surreal to think about that. Where do you see the current status of women in the United States and around the world right now? What do you see is the current call to action for women today?

NP
: I think that women have to know how important they are. Not that women are better than men, but the mix is a beautiful thing and you get a better result. I think that we will have a woman president soon. I hope that Hillary Clinton will decide to run, because I think that will bring that day closer to us. . . . I do think that we will be required to be taken into a direction where the American people are so far ahead of the Congress. And as I said to you before, I always thought we would have a woman president before we would have a woman speaker of the House, because of the way this system has been so male-dominated and the American people are far ahead on that score. So I see us on a path. I think it will be very important to our country, to women and little girls in our country, and to everyone in our country and the world, to see our country join the ranks of those who have women leaders.

WOMEN OF POWER

I have the strongest belief
—
not just hope, belief
—
that we are now undergoing, in this area of women’s rights and violence toward women, we are on the threshold of a transformation. . . . I’m tremendously hopeful
.

        
—P
ATRICK
S
TEWART

It fascinates me. What appears to be the most obvious is not. Living in New York City, I see women in power everywhere, but this is not the rule
—
this remains the exception. When you look at things from a global perspective it becomes so clear that we need to shift the paradigm so that opportunities and access are available to all women. We know women are a key part of the answer, and we need both men and women to fully embrace this. Change is scary but it is also necessary
.

        
—D
ONNA
K
ARAN

I think the world is realizing that [empowering and educating girls and women] is incredibly important and that we need to do more and more to support women, because in many parts of the developing world their power is often very limited . . . And yet in so many cases, the power they have to make decisions is the key to their families’ future . . . I think people need to remember that empowering women to determine their future should not be controversial, no matter where you are
.

        
—M
ELINDA
G
ATES

The reason I made women’s issues central to American foreign policy was not because I was a feminist, but because we know that societies are more stable if women are politically and economically empowered. Women don’t have trouble finding work, but they need to be valued and they need to be part of a legal system. So I did it for a number of reasons, but it makes a difference. I have found it hard to just talk about women’s issues
—
they are
people
issues, and they are very central to how people treat each other
.

        
—M
ADELEINE
A
LBRIGHT, FIRST FEMALE
U.S. S
ECRETARY OF
S
TATE

Get over the feeling that the two words don’t go together—women and power. The fact is, if we don’t put the two together and don’t understand how power changes complexion in the hands of women, then we’re not going to make it
.

        
—J
ANE
F
ONDA

I believe if women believe that they can be free, that they can have a voice, that they can do whatever they want, and that they have the right and the mandate to fight for it, anything can happen. But part of it is breaking through our own sense of limitation and our fear that if we step forward, people won’t like us. And I think that’s the main thing we really have to break through
—
our own sense of limitations, what’s been programmed into us, because that programming is very powerful
.

        
—E
VE
E
NSLER

I believe that it is only a matter of time before the structural barriers to women or minorities are effectively dismantled. I look forward to the day when I am thought of as the 102nd Supreme Court Justice rather than the first female Supreme Court Justice
.