The book emphasizes political maneuvering more than it emphasizes Pelosi’s positions on substantive issues, but that is almost certainly a wise choice.

House seat came open in 1987, Pelosi sought it and won.īzdek effectively chronicles Pelosi’s rise within the old boys’ network dominating the House. So she built a network by becoming involved in state, county and local politics as a Californian.

Having moved to San Francisco, Pelosi could not count on a built-in support network as she could have in Baltimore or Washington. She took her mothering duties seriously but never divorced herself from Democratic politics, volunteering for candidates at all levels.Īlthough Bzdek occasionally drifts into a gee-whiz tone and attitude about Pelosi’s gender-based accomplishments, he mostly overcomes those passages to provide serious consideration of how full-time mothering aided Pelosi later in life as a politician.įull-time mothering was not the only obstacle to the eventual attempt at electoral office. They moved to the San Francisco area because of his business investments. Her husband, Paul Pelosi, made good money as an entrepreneur. During the 1960s, she gave birth to four sons and a daughter. She knew she would encounter gender prejudice if she tried to enter electoral politics, but from an early age she refused to discount the possibility.Īfter attending an all-girls high school in Baltimore and an all-female college in nearby Washington, Nancy married young and quickly entered motherhood. Nancy D’Alessandro, the fifth of five children and the only girl, also watched as her older brother Tommy served as mayor of Baltimore. Her father was Tommy D’Alessandro, an Italian-American, Catholic, Democratic politician who served as mayor of Baltimore, as well as in the U.S. The result is an informative biography that reads like it is hastily composed but worth the effort to complete.īorn in 1940, Pelosi knew electoral politics while a child. Bzdek became fascinated by the accomplishments of Pelosi in electoral politics, so he decided to write a biography quickly, capitalizing on her unprecedented elevation and on her role in the 2008 national elections. Vincent Bzdek is an editor and reporter at The Washington Post, and a former Sunday editor at The Denver Post. Nancy Pelosi is the first female speaker of the U.S. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu

Woman of the House by Vincent Bzdek