53 pages • 1 hour read
Nancy PelosiThe Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Passed in 2010, the Affordable Care Act is colloquially known as “Obamacare.” This healthcare legislation changed the insurance industry by requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions and preventative healthcare. It also made provisions for states to expand Medicaid coverage to working-class people who could not otherwise afford insurance.
In the book, Pelosi represents work on the law as what collaborative legislation looks like in practice. She believes its passage marks one of the great achievements of her tenure as speaker. Pelosi does acknowledge that Republican opposition to the bill supercharged a more vitriolic political discourse and led to Democratic losses in Congress.
Citizens United v. FEC
A 2010 Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. FEC is a case that effectively allowed corporations and groups to spend large amounts of money on campaigns related to legislation and elections. The court based its decision on the idea that money represents freedom of speech and thus should not be limited in political settings. The decision injected large sums of dark money—political donations with sourcing that is not always transparent—into the political process. Groups known as super PACs (political action committees) were allowed to funnel money to their preferred causes and candidates.
Pelosi believes Citizens United led to greater power for corporations and the wealthy in the political process. To Pelosi, super PACS and dark money are signs of a greed-driven political culture. She also credits the decision with allowing funding of ads and campaigns that demonized her and led to public and personal attacks that endangered her and her family, including her husband.
Impeachment
Impeachment is a constitutional provision whereby Congress can remove a federal official, including the president, from office for treason, bribery, or other crimes that violate the official’s oath of office or the law in general. The impeachment process starts when the House of Representatives puts articles of impeachment to a vote. If a simple majority approves the articles, the case then moves to the Senate, where senators act as a jury presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. If two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict, the proceedings may result in the removal of the president from office and barring of the president from serving in federal offices again.
In the book, Pelosi describes the two impeachment trials of Donald Trump as efforts to restrain a president who abused his power and office for his own gain. Trump retained his office in both cases, outcomes that Pelosi believes makes him dangerous. Pelosi views the failure of Republican senators to remove Trump as an example of the damage extreme partisanship can do to the responsible exercise of political power.
Most Favored Nation Status
Most Favored Nation (MFN) status is a legal designation that gives a trading partner of the United States advantages that go beyond that of other trading partners. In the book, Pelosi describes the US decision to grant China the status as a failure of leadership, given China’s poor record on human rights and its unfair trade practices vis-à-vis the United States. Pelosi’s decrying of the granting of MFN status to China reflects her belief that the United States should exercise power with attention to morality and responsibility. She believes the US decision to give China the status damaged its moral leadership in the world for the sake of greed.
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
TARP is a program established by legislation passed in 2008 in response to the recession of 2007 to 2009. The intent of the legislation was to put banks back on a good footing after they destabilized the economy by buying up junk assets, such as mortgage-backed securities from already- struggling mortgage companies and other banks. As Speaker of the House, Pelosi was central to the negotiation of the $700 billion set aside to buy up these junk assets from the banks.
Pelosi, who believes that corporate greed drove the crisis, uses her discussion of the negotiation of TARP to demonstrate progressivism’s anti-corporate agenda and support for ordinary people harmed by the actions of the big banks. She highlights her efforts to impose constraints on how the George W. Bush administration administered the program. She also highlights the failure to restrict executive compensation at troubled banks as the triumph of corporations. Pelosi’s discussion of the negotiations, even the failed effort to limit executive compensation, is designed to shore up her legacy as a legislator and to defend against the accusation that she sided with the corporations.
