In an interview for the FRONTLINE documentary “Pelosi’s Power,” David Axelrod, who served as a campaign strategist and political adviser to President Barack Obama, discusses Nancy Pelosi’s early life and how it shaped her political career.

“She is completely formed by her experiences as the daughter of a ward boss and mayor of Baltimore,” he tells FRONTLINE. “She has the sensibilities of an old-time ward boss.”

Axelrod is the director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and a political commentator for CNN.

The following interview was conducted by FRONTLINE’s Michael Kirk on Nov. 4, 2021. It has been edited for clarity and length.

“Pelosi’s Power” premieres March 22, 2022.

This interview is being published as part of FRONTLINE’s Transparency Project, an effort to open up the source material behind our documentaries. Explore the transcript of this interview, and others, on the FRONTLINE website: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/about-frontlines-transparency-project/

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