Nancy Pelosi Understood What Mattered

By Jean Godden

After her success shepherding the landmark Affordable Care Act through the House in 2009, Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to Seattle. Her agenda included a visit to Swedish Medical Center, to see how that hospital was already delivering care in much the way the health care bill encouraged.

While in Seattle, Pelosi took time to schedule a meeting at Seattle City Hall. Her message, a perennial one, was to encourage women to run for office. Following her speech at City Hall, she used the occasion to meet Seattle’s women councilmembers. I still treasure a photo taken of Speaker Pelosi talking with Jan Drago, Sally Clark, and me.

Just this week, Pelosi announced that — after nearly 40 years in the House – she will complete her term and retire at year’s end. Once again, she showed that she knows what matters. Like so much that she accomplished, this decision does her proud.

During Donald Trump’s first term, she proved skilled at getting under his skin, goading him to lash out like an ill-tempered child. One unforgettable instance was when, as Speaker, she presided over Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech, marking each page where he told a lie. Finding the speech riddled with lies, she finally gave up and tore her paper copy in two, an image that dominated news coverage.

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