A paragraph on most powerful women in the world
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Explanation:
Last December, leader of House Democrats Nancy Pelosi met with President Trump in the Oval Office to discuss a possible government shutdown. During the contentious 15-minute exchange, Pelosi challenged the President, interrupted his interruptions and made clear she would not back down. “Mr. President,” she said, “please don’t characterize the strength that I bring to this meeting.”
A year later, Pelosi has proven why those who misjudge her do so at their peril. As Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the 79-year-old is second in line for the presidency and the first woman to hold the speakership in American history. She is also the first to return to that role in more than 60 years (her first appointment went from 2007 until 2011, when the Democrats lost control of the House). And she’s the engineer of the country’s fourth-ever impeachment proceedings.
That is already enough to earn her a spot in the history books, but her wielding of authority is what has catapulted her among World’s Most Powerful Women at number 3, the highest rank she’s ever held and the first time she’s been on the list since 2015, when she was number 38. Pelosi’s power manifests from the way she’s directing her authority: on her own terms. She withstood months of pressure from an outspoken wing of her party before initiating the impeachment process, waiting for the strongest possible evidence of the president’s Constitutional misdemeanors. Elsewhere in her term, she has literally stood up and clapped back to Trump and even executed her own trip overseas to meet with allies and assure them of America’s continued might in the world.
“Don’t mess with me,” Pelosi told a reporter who implied that her impeachment motives were personal.
"I would make a distinction between power and influence," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has told Forbes. "Some people have no power really, but they have tremendous influence. You know who they are."
That could be the mantra for just about every one of the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women. The top-ranked woman for the ninth year in a row, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is crusading against anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe; Taylor Swift is battling industry stalwarts and private equity firms over musician song-ownership rights; and 16-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg—one of 23 newcomers to the list—is fighting inaction on climate change and galvanizing millions of young people around the globe.
There is plenty of evidence that other women not yet in these ranks are also making moves. The United States Congress has a record 126 women in its chambers and more women are being appointed to S&P 500 boards than at any other point in global history.
As for the path forward, the Speaker herself is helping show the way: “We don’t agonize. We organize.”
- Maggie McGrath