As part of our “Women on Wednesdays” series, please join American University's Women & Politics Institute for a virtual conversation with WPI Executive Director Betsy Fischer Martin and USA Today Washington Bureau Chief, Susan Page, author of the book, Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power, the “definitive biography of Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful woman in American political history.”

Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright called Madam Speaker “a compelling portrait of determination, resilience, and patriotism that is the essence of American democracy.” With more than a hundred interviews with Pelosi and her inner circle, Susan Page covers the life and career of the first woman Speaker of the House, from her childhood in Baltimore to “master legislator and indefatigable political warrior.” Order the book here

Susan Page is the award-winning Washington Bureau chief of USA Today, where she writes about politics and the White House. Susan has covered seven White House administrations and eleven presidential elections, and her resume includes interviews with the past ten presidents and reporting around the world. In 2020, she moderated the vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. In addition to Madam Speaker, Page is the author of the New York Times best-selling The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty and the forthcoming biography of broadcast journalist Barbara Walters (coming in 2023).

Page received a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Northwestern University and her graduate degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is originally from Kansas and got her start in journalism as editor-in-chief of her high school yearbook and the school newspaper.

Betsy Fischer Martinis an Emmy-winning journalist and former TV news executive. Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University and a faculty member in the School of Public Affairs, where she teaches courses on campaigns and elections. During her earlier career in television news, she spent 23 years at NBC News serving as the longtime Executive Producer of Meet the Press with Tim Russert and as the Managing Editor of NBC News Political Programming.

A native of New Orleans, Fischer Martin did her undergraduate and graduate work at American University in Washington, DC. She is a cum laude graduate of their School of Public Affairs and earned a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the AU School of Communication.

“Women On Wednesdays”: Susan Page - “Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power”