Democrats rose as Nancy Pelosi walked onto the stage at the United Center in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. They applauded, then applauded some more. Pelosi waved before hushing the room.
The former House Speaker began by expressing her gratitude to Joe Biden, calling his term “one of the most successful presidencies in modern times,” even as she had subtly but forcefully urged the president to leave office.
“Thank you, Joe,” she said, before turning to Kamala Harris, a fellow Californian who Pelosi said was “ready to take us to new heights.”
Pelosi may have retired as Speaker, but the convention proved — if proof were needed — that the veteran congresswoman remains one of the party’s top power brokers who can make — or break — an American president.
During a meeting earlier on Wednesday, Pelosi declined to provide details about her conversation with Biden more than a month ago, during the deeply painful period before he decided to abandon his re-election bid and endorse Harris.
Speaking in a stained-glass room at the University Club of Chicago, Pelosi insisted Biden had to make the monumental decision alone. But pressed by Democratic strategist David Axelrod, she conceded that she believed it was “essential” that Democrats deny Donald Trump a second term. The price was that Biden would deny one, too.
“I wanted to protect his legacy very much,” she said. But her top priority was to win the election — and not just the White House, but the House and the Senate. “There was a great sacrifice here,” she said.
Pelosi appeared uncomfortable with the suggestion that she played a central role in pushing Biden to end his reelection campaign, a decision that transformed the presidential race. Harris has united the party behind her and her running mate, Tim Walz, a former Minnesota congressman whom Pelosi had also advocated for.
“You have to make the decision to win, and you have to make every decision in favor of winning,” she said.
Biden denied that anyone pushed him out of the race. Speaking to reporters on Monday after delivering what amounted to a farewell speech at the Democratic convention, he said: “Nobody had any influence on my decision. Nobody knew it was coming.”
Pelosi and Biden, devout Catholics who have known each other for decades, have not spoken since he ended his campaign. The rift has weighed heavily on Pelosi, she said. “I cried about this. I’m sad about this,” she said.
During his speech in Chicago, Biden said, “All this talk about how angry I am at all these people who said I should resign, that’s not true.”
Pelosi, the daughter of a longtime Baltimore mayor and a student of the city’s politics, shared anecdotes from her new book, The Art of Power, about her extraordinary career, which she described as: “homemaker, member of the House of Representatives, speaker of the House of Representatives.”
She was the first – and so far only – female Speaker of the House of Representatives and was the highest-ranking woman in American politics until Harris was elected as the country’s first female vice president.
“You have to be able to take a punch, you have to be able to throw a punch … for the kids,” she said, a Pelosi idea that drew laughter from the packed audience.
When asked by Axelrod whether Harris should emphasize the history-making potential of her candidacy, Pelosi said that breaking what Hillary Clinton once called the “highest and hardest” glass ceiling in American politics was important, but not a political message.
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The prospect of Harris becoming the first female president “brings tears to my eyes,” Pelosi said, but it doesn’t necessarily “bring votes at the ballot box.”
“It’s the icing on the cake,” she said. “But it’s not the cake.”
Pelosi is now considered one of the most influential House speakers in modern political history. She said she faced doubts as she rose in Congress, with her male colleagues warning her to wait her turn.
“I became interested in running [for leadership] Because we kept losing elections, in 1994, 1996, 1998, and then it was 2000, I thought, ‘I’m so tired of losing,’ she said.
When she announced her decision to run for the Democratic leadership, Pelosi said she was immediately met with skepticism, especially among her male colleagues.
“Who said she could run?” Pelosi recalled them saying. Their disbelief only encouraged her further.
Pelosi went on to say that she had been told there was a “pecking order,” but that she was not in it.
“They said, ‘These people have been waiting a long time,’” Pelosi said. “So I said, ‘Was it over 200 years?’”
Highlights from the Democratic Convention:
