Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters

by Nancy Pelosi, Amy Hill Hearth

“Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and our granddaughters today we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters now the sky is the limit.” —Nancy Pelosi, after being sworn in as Speaker of the House When Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House, she made history. She gavelled the House to order that day on behalf of all of America’s children and said, “We have made history, now let us make progress.” Now she continues to inspire women everywhere in this thought-provoking collection of wise words—her own and those of the important people who played pivotal roles in her journey. In these pages, she encourages mothers and grandmothers, daughters and granddaughters to never lose faith, to speak out and make their voices heard, to focus on what matters most and follow their dreams wherever they may lead. Perhaps the Speaker says it best herself in the “I find it humbling and deeply moving when women and girls approach me, looking for insight and advice. If women can learn from me, in the same way I learned from the women who came before me, it will make the honor of being Speaker of the House even more meaningful.” This is a truly special book to share with all the women you know. It is a keepsake to turn to again and again, whenever you need to be reminded that anything is possible when you know your power.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Biography, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Audiobook

192 pages, Hardcover

First published July 29, 2008

About the author

Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before being elected Speaker in the 110th Congress, she was the House Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007, holding the post during the 108th and 109th Congresses.

Since 1987, she has represented the 8th Congressional District of California, which consists of four-fifths of the City and County of San Francisco. The district was numbered as the 5th during Pelosi's first three terms in the House.

Nancy Pelosi is the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. She is also the first Italian-American and first Californian to serve as Speaker. She is the second Speaker from a state west of the Rocky Mountains, with the first being Washington's Tom Foley, who was the last Democrat to hold the post before Pelosi. As Speaker of the House, Pelosi is second in the line of presidential succession, following Vice President Joe Biden, which makes her the highest-ranking female politician in United States history.

Reviews

[Jodi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting more inspiration. Just a memoir listing the details of her (well-off) upbringing. Title is deceiving.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fascinating. It doesn't delve into her politics too much, but is mainly about her family life and background. She has five children that she stayed home to raise and THEN became a member of Congress.

I learned that the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), which protects someone's job while, for instance, they are on maternity leave, was presented to the first President Bush and that he wouldn't sign it. President Clinton eventually did sign it. I had no idea this was such a recent achievement.

"Whatever their goals in life may be, women can draw strength and confidence from recognizing that there is nothing more important than investing time and love in the next generation as a mother, an aunt, or a mentor.

When I was a full-time mom and housewife, there was a joke circulating that if society started calling us "domestic engineers", maybe the work we did would be recognized for its true value. It always made me sad when I heard women reply to the question, "What do you do?" by saying "I'm just a housewife." Just a housewife?

My message to women is to place a higher value on the experience of being a mother and homemaker. Raising children is saving the world, one child at a time."

[Jessica]

I didn't think I was a fan of Pelosi, but I heard her interviewed this week by Joe Donahue on The Roundtable on WAMC (wamc.org). Radio is a great way to arrive unprejudiced to someone's views: I caught the interview midstream, and didn't know who was speaking until very near the end. Who IS this smart lady? ...lo and behold, it was Nancy Pelosi speaking such common sense & wisdom about women and power.
Wow. Surprise, surprise.

[Devon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe my expectations were too high, but it wasn't the kickass, take names book that I imagined. The tips I got out of the book were few and far between.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Nancy Pelosi had been a CEO of a bank, daughter of a banker and sister to bankers this book would be seen as an inspiring tale to young women of what can be done with guts, determination, and support from family and friends. Because she is a political figure it is not always read with a generous light. However, no matter what your political background -- credit does need to be given to her for a life of influence.

This book is a conversation -- it is not always sequential, but what conversation is? It starts with her upbringing -- her father was an immigrant who became a mayor and a representative under the presidential term of FDR. Ms Pelosi mentions the people she met acting with her father, when she was volunteering in California for the Democratic Convention and then under her own right as representative.

Ms Pelosi mentions how important faith, family heritage, and volunteering is to her and the examples that have been set by the men and women who have come before her and she does have an amazing perspective. She didn't run for any office until most of her 5 children were out of the house (her youngest was a senior in high school). She was a "stay at home" Mother (who took kids in strollers to hand out political flyers). She was involved in her community, church, and very devoted to her children. She started her political career when she was able to do so without it interfering too much in her other duties and her skills of being a wife/home-maker helped her organize her platform and campaign for election.

Though I may not agree with everything she says ... personally if I had 4 children and was living with MY mother-in-law, I wouldn't care that the owner of the 'perfect' home was in the other political party ... I think that the gist of what she says is true.

-- never lose faith
-- recognize opportunity
-- let your voice be heard

Not everyone can be Susan B. Anthony or Ella Grasso, but you sure as anything can be you; be the best 'you' you can be.

[Edwina " I LoveBooks" "Deb" · Rating 5 out of 5]

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

AS AMERICA BRACES ITSELF FOR NATIONAL ELECTIONS IN 2016!! WOMEN NEED TO KNOW THERE POWER AND WHATS AT RISK FOR ALL FEMALES.

Nancy Pelosi has a strong progressive point of view for America. She really wants the betterment of Young rils and women rights in America. Equal pay for women. Better medical care, Better leave and programs for working mothers. rights to choose and make our own decisions about our bodies. This book should be required reading for every female in America. With women's rights being rolled back to the 1700's by the GOP, we need a voice like Nancy Pelosi's.

[Paula Obermeier McCarty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting bit of light reading. While I don't care for her political extremism I do consider her to be a brilliant politician. I enjoyed this book because it seemed to reveal her witty sense of humor about herself. It humanized her for me.

I only rated it a "2" because it was a very quick, light read and the contents didn't seem to match up with the title. It was more of a mini-biography. I liked it but I wish there would have been more to it.

[Kristi Becknell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting to hate this book bc I’m not a huge fan of Nancy but I enjoyed the book. I found myself looking past our differences and loving the things we hVe in common. I’m grateful for her hard work, commitment to serving our country and her ability to give women a voice. I appreciate those who are willing to share their stories.

[Tess Huelskamp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

Life story was told from an arm’s length away. Not much real advice. Could’ve read her Wikipedia article instead.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written more than ten years ago, Nancy Pelosi describes her life and family of origin, her marriage, children and move to San Francisco, and after 20 years of being a full time mom-at-home, she wins a seat in Congress. Amazing life of dedication to American politics, is still happening. She has won a place in my heart with this book.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned a lot about Nancy Pelosi's life and career.

"We had a saying on the appropriations committee: 'The plural of anecdote is not data.'"

[Vennittah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed every aspect of this book. It was written in a very simple style. Easy read and many powerful messages for every woman regardless of age or stage of career etc. It doesn't sound preachy like some of similar books in this genre.

Part 1: Roots to Wings - Gives a great baseline of how she ends up speaker of the house whilst authentically showing her roots (humble beginnings) but was a little lack lustre for me.

Part 2: Kitchen to Congress - a great pivot point in the book that kept me interested on her journey. She not only talks candidly of her ability to recognize opportunity and seize it but also her great organizational abilities and how this grassroots organization ability has helped her rise. This is where part 1 ties into her story. She definitely how her out of the box thinking and strategic mind helps shape the story of the democrats in congress and how they finally manage to take back control of the the house.

Part 3: Know your power - Leverage all our abilities serve the people. It is clear politics is an ugly game and not of the faint of heart but if you know your vision (those you promised to serve) and purpose then you stay the cause undeterred. She ends with a few anecdotes that give you a window into her wonderful family.

I gave the book 4 stars only because I couldn't give it 4.5 stars.

There is only one part of the book, really 1 or 2 sentences I didn't agree with. It is not a personal attack on her or anything like that. It might be a generational thing that we as women struggle with. We make a decision or do something and then justify it as yes every mother would have made the same decision. Having been on so many parenting forums online, I see how this statement tends to be divisive even though it is not intended to be. She says in one of the days she was due to depart for the middle east with President Clinton, she got a call that her daughter had gone into labor early and she has a decision to either go with President(once in life time opportunity and great career boost) or go and watch the birth of her grandchild. Of course she chose family. I applaud her very much for that. Yes, any parent would have done the same if they were in a position of privilege and had the resources. Many parents just don't have that choice even when they have the money, sometimes the logistics of pulling that off are not nearly as easy and work pressures sometimes require us to sacrifice and just go at the next available free time.

Otherwise, I highly recommend this book.

[Jen Richer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Know Your Power is the title of Nancy Pelosi's new book. She may be an incredible woman with a remarkable career, but after reading her "Message to America's Daughters" I have to say, please keep your day job. Her power is NOT in writing.

Although written with co writer Amy Hill Hearth, the narrative is strained. From the introduction to the epilogue, the tone is of obligation to women everywhere was to write all 170 pages of how she made it to the top. Well Nancy - this is not required reading.

She starts the tale with "notes, notes, take notes," advice she clearly forgot to take to heart. This warm and fuzzy diatribe lacks any significant substance. It glazes over the juicy details, like a poorly written boilerplate.

I cracked the book hoping to read her side of House battles, particularly as trail blazing female and her struggles within the minority party for so long. Instead I was given repeat anecdotes I heard when we met her at her book signing. There she told us "self promotion is a dirty job, but someone's got to do it."

If I had to sum this one up in a single word - Disappointing. The one quote I walked away with was not even hers, it was a quote she used from Thomas Jefferson. A nice reminder, particularly in this election that , "Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle."

[Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Except for the rabid right wing, I don't know anyone who doesn't admire or at least respect Nancy Pelosi. She made history as the first woman speaker but also has done more work to bring this Congress legislative victories than any other speaker before her.
The book has some good (but warmed over and sanitized) anecdotes about her upbringing and early years.
She loved hanging out in Ocean City, was forbidden to ride her bicycle in the street or swim out to far but did both, and was raised by a mom who wanted her to be a nun.
She attended Trinty College but went to summer school (???) at Georgetown, which is where she met her husband to be Paul. Their first conversation: He asked her to pick up his shirts at the dry cleaners, which she did not do.
Pelosi skips over much of this early period of her life, which as a mom of 4 children probably consisted of some of the most challenging times of her life. She was living in New York and fell in love with the NY Times, which she said she demanded that she be able to keep reading when Paul wanted to move to San Francisco, his home town.
There will be better biographies to come but this is a quick and easy read that gives a good overview of the speaker.

[Margot Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is incredible that Nancy Pelosi rose to become Speaker of the House, the first woman to ever do so. In this book, Speaker Pelosi shares some warm and friendly lessons she learned along the way, like seize your opportunities, enjoy each phase of life you are in, etc. In a time when we are challenging whether a woman -- or man -- with young children can or should run for high office, it is really interesting to note that Speaker Pelosi did not run for Congress for the first time until her kids were in college and the last one was a senior in high school. Reading this book is like having Nancy sit next to you and tell you about her life, which is really nice. No doubt she learned early how to handle men, being the only girl, and the youngest, of five! I wish she would have shared more about how important fundraising is/was to her rise to leadership. Clearly, she is the best of the best in that category and I'm sure it didn't hurt that her husband was wealthy and that allowed her to travel in the upper-crust circles of San Francisco life. It's a good read and I've loaned it to my mom!

[Nadja · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is the story of nancy pelosi and her rise to power as the speaker of the house of representatives. the easy-to-read but pretty short-cut recapitulation of how this remarkable woman was propelled to the top is doing a disservice to all of the author's achievement. she manages, however, to get her message across: know your power, and do not fall into the pitfall of still too many women, unterrating their possibilites. if the storyline is sometimes superficial and of the brink to being pathetic, the strong and probably demanding character of this politician shines still through. this book also underlines the part of the pioneer that the United States are still playing. and let's not forget that the first female lawyer of Switzerland had to cross the big pond to be allowed to university (which, sadly, didn't keep the authorities of the time to lock her into an asylum soon after she got back to her homeland). girls, know your power - and watch out for michelle obama!

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very interested to read a book written by a professionally successful mother where she stated from the beginning that her biggest accomplishment is that of being a wife and mother. Although I greatly disagree with her politics I was reminded of the importance of how we as mother's present ourselves to our children. I believe that there are seasons in life for everything we'd like to accomplish and currently my focus is on my children. Nancy Pelosi seems to feel the same way but mentions ways that she continued to contribute to things she felt passionately about without having to give up any moment of motherhood. She had her children help her stuff envelopes and they delivered fliers together as a family. She hosted events in her home and taught her children from a young age to be involved and to care. I enjoyed this book if only for that reason.

[AuthorsOnTourLive! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House in 2007 after serving twenty years in Congress. She and her husband Paul have been married for forty-five years, and she is the mother of five children and the grandmother of seven. When Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House, she made history. She gaveled the House to order that day on behalf of all of America's children and said, "We have made history, now let us make progress." Now, in her book, she continues to inspire women everywhere with a thought-provoking collection of wise words-her own and those of the important people who played pivotal roles in her journey.

We met Nancy Pelosi when she visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. You can listen to her talk about Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters here: http://www.authorsontourlive.com/?p=164

[Miri Gifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy Pelosi is an interesting public figure, but this book felt very ghostwritten (and not especially well, either). I certainly could have done a better job myself. Not to mention that I accidentally checked out a large print copy, which I never enjoy reading. (Not related: I can't believe how short this book is. The large print edition is maybe half a centimeter thick; can't imagine what it looks like in regular print. More like a pamphlet than a book.)

Favorite points:

"'Never fight a fight as if it's your last one.' Good advice, once again, from Lindy Boggs. I've been in politics long enough to know that while there are eternal friendships... there is no such thing as an eternal opponent."

"Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle." —Thomas Jefferson, quoted in book.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book - it was a very quick and easy read but it was very interestig. I loved reading how Nancy advanced through her roles and incorporated motherhood (with its organizational needs) as a profitable experience for politics. It was also fun to read how Nancy went back in time and mentioned that when she went to Congress, her chair was crowded as she felt that Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Susan B Anthony and other female history makers were with her.

I plan to adopt two of Nancy's practices - "Proper preparation prevents poor performance" and "Organize don't agonize".

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not a huge fan of this book at all. I thought it was going to be a great book for woman-to-woman advice about getting ahead. It was not. It was more of an autobiography for Nancy and not even an interesting one. Sometimes I thought she was overselling her political views. (At one point she says that she didn't buy a house she fell in love with because the reason it was for sale was that the previous owner transferred to work for the Nixon administration and she couldn't buy a house that was available because of Nixon's administration.)

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked a radio review I heard on this. There were some good sections that encouraged mothering and marriage and women getting involved. However, I was a little disappointed in what I felt were attacks on men, past government leaders, and republicans (I guess I must be one). Also, it suggests that women need more daycare options so that they can be involved in government rather than at home with the kids...wait a minute, I thought she was saying that her stay-at-home mothering was what prepared her to do what she is now doing?!

[Nancy Spagnolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected. For someone so polorizing I had expected a more guarded book which reads like a campaign ad or a book full of fiery political commentary railing against the other side, but it was as frank and open as a political biography can be while the subject is still in office. If you hate her already, she won't change your mind with this book, but if there is a soul out there who hasn't cast their opinion of Nancy Pelosi in iron yet, you might find her a lot more human and 'normal' after reading this.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a decent book. I liked reading about Nancy Pelosi's experiences going from a stay-at-home-mom/housewife all the way through the ranks to become the first woman Speaker of the House. For anyone that has any notion of a career in politics at any level, this is a good book to read. Even for Republicans. :) There weren't too many digs at Republicans - you can tell she was trying to write it to be as partisan-neutral as possible.

[Herb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Full of insight and good old American common sense. Despite the sub-title, this is not a book geared solely at women. This is a person who knows what she's talking about and is not afraid to share it. There is no "good old boy" bashing; in fact, there is no bashing at all. Just her opinions and suggestions for good leadership. At the crux of this book is one simple truism: Do what's right for the people. Highly recommended.

[Darlis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book at the California State Democratic Convention. I really enjoyed this autobiography of someone who was a wife & mother who made a career for herself, followed her own family values, and built onto the political career of her family.

I admire her even more now that I have read the book for her abililties and talents that she used to rise to the top in an arena that was not open to women.

And it is a short, good read.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story chronicles Nancy Pelosi's experiences from childhood through motherhood & her time as Speaker of the House. She spends much time on the people who have helped to open doors for her, but does not go the extra step to make her unique experience one the reader can relate to through generalized lessons learned. Some outstanding take aways include "timing is everything....don't be afraid to wait and be prepared." and "we have a voice at the table. but we want more [women in office:]."

[Valerie Burnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be inspiring and entertaining. The stories weave details about family and political life very smoothly. Clearly Nancy Pelosi enjoys her family thoroughly. Quite a few quirky family stories caused me to chuckle throughout the book. She intersperses quotes and words of wisdom gathered along the way. She offers quite a bit to think about. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like she was very edited to make women like her more. It seems as though a woman with this sort of political power does not just have that power fall in her lap as the book seems to imply. I do appreciate the encouragement to women that any small effort helps and we should allude what we can to take part in the politics that govern our lives. I also agree that women need to know their power but that was the title and about a paragraph in the book. Not enough meat to truly be intriguing.

[Joy H.]

Added 5/9/12.

I found this audio-book to be very bland. So I didn't continue listening.

The following is from our public library's catalog description:
"Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House, provides insightfully inspirational words to women of all ages in this valuable tome. ... Read by Nancy Pelosi."

I didn't find the audio-book interesting enough to continue listening. I wanted to get on to other books.