Global Courant 2023-05-21 19:00:16
Aside from family and close friends, few people have a longer history with Dianne Feinstein or a better understanding of California’s ailing US Senator than Jerry Roberts.
The former political writer and newspaper editor — now host of Santa Barbara’s unique “Newsmakers with Jerry Roberts” broadcast — first reported on Feinstein nearly 50 years ago.
She served on the San Francisco board of trustees; Roberts was a reporter for the city’s alternative newspaper, the Bay Guardian.
In 1994, he published the biography “Dianne Feinstein: Never Let Them See You Cry.” It remains a must-read for students of the 89-year-old lawmaker, who is under intense pressure to drop out due to doubts about her mental and physical health and her ability to do her job in the Senate.
Our conversation about Feinstein, past and present, has been edited for length and clarity.
Start with a few words to describe the senator.
Difficult. Independent. Persevering. Brave. driven.
She has had a remarkable career. But her life hasn’t always been easy or happy, starting with a horrible childhood.
Her father was a very prominent surgeon at UC San Francisco. They were wealthy and, outwardly, sort of this perfect family. But her mother abused her, both emotionally and physically. She was an alcoholic. She was on prescription drugs. And Dianne, being the eldest, was kind of given a role to protect her two younger sisters.
There were many incidents that her sisters described to me, one of which involved her mother trying to drown the youngest in the bathtub when she was about 5 years old. There was much unrest within the walls of the house. But it was a secret that no one should ever hear about.
Feinstein’s first marriage ended in divorce at a young age. Her second left her a widow in her forties.
Her second marriage was to a widely acclaimed surgeon, Bert Feinstein, whose name she kept throughout her life. That was a very happy marriage, but he died of colon cancer in 1978. He really was, I think, the only love of her life, so that was hard for her.
That same year, Feinstein was ready to leave politics, after two unsuccessful candidacy runs for mayor. Then she was pushed into the job, as chairman of the board, then mayor George Moscone was killed. How do you think all the drama and tragedy shaped Feinstein?
I’m not a psychiatrist, but I think it definitely hardened her and gave her some kind of armor as well. That was the reason I called the book “Never Let Them See You Cry”. It was actually a suggestion she made in a piece written for a women’s magazine about how to succeed in the workplace.
She always put on a very brave, professional and very polished public image, even when she experienced a lot of anxiety and private pain.
How do you think the background informs this particular moment?
Independence is probably Feinstein’s most notable trait. But also a belief in herself to the point of stubbornness, where no one is going to tell her what she can or can’t do. She has tremendous faith and confidence in her own strength and her own abilities. And in fact, the best way to get her to do something is to tell her she can’t.
That really goes back to her first election to the Board of Supervisors in 1969, when everyone told her — including her father, whom she idolized — a woman can’t win. I think that just really pushed her to prove people wrong. She was never what you would call a movement feminist, but she was a feminist in the sense that she always wanted an equal opportunity to do things. And she wanted equal treatment.
Do you think this pressure will make Feinstein even more resistant to stop?
It has always been an independent political force. She’s never been one to go to parties on a regular basis. So to have people say, “Well, the Democratic Party wants her to do this” – it’s silly. I mean, it doesn’t matter what the Democratic Party wants or doesn’t want in terms of what Dianne has decided she’s going to do.
Is there anyone in this world who could push her out, or even try?
Not that I know. I think another thing that contributes to this whole situation that isn’t often mentioned is the death of Richard Blum.
Her third husband, whom Feinstein married 1980, dead in February 2022.
It was not an easy time. He was ill for a long time. She flew back and forth across the country to be with him.
She listened to his advice, both political and personal. They really were a team. But other than that, I don’t see anyone else I know whose advice she would take on this. She is 89 years old. She has been to many funerals. Many advisors, many counselors, many allies are gone.
You talked about Feinstein as a feminist. Do you believe that sexism is the cause of attempts to push it aside?
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi certainly made that point, and it’s hard for me to disagree. Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts was absent for months after being diagnosed with brain cancer, and I don’t recall anyone saying, “Oh, Ted Kennedy should resign.” And there are many more examples. So I think there’s an element to that.
I think there is also an ideological element. The left wing of the Democratic Party tried to get rid of Feinstein in 2018 when she ran for re-election and they supported Kevin de León. So when you see people like Representatives Ro Khanna and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez step out and call for her to step down, that’s part of it.
Will this sad ending tarnish Feinstein’s legacy? Would it?
I don’t think it should. Look at all the things she has accomplished both politically and culturally. Look at the generations of female politicians who have come out of the Bay Area – the Vice President of the United States; the former Speaker of the House of Representatives; Senator Barbara Boxer; female congressmen. They all followed in Dianne’s footsteps.
Her work in the Senate — desert protection, exposing the government’s use of torture to fight terrorism, the 10-year ban on assault weapons — speaks for itself. The role she played in complicated California issues: water, immigration, many things.
This has a recency bias. People see what is happening today and often they don’t really know all that she has accomplished. It will be a few lines in her obituary. But that’s it.
Pelosi’s oldest daughter, Nancy Corinne Prowda, has been a constant on Feinstein’s side. Some see politics at work, as Pelosi is support Rep. Adam B. Schiff to succeed Feinstein. But you don’t buy it.
Start with the fact that Pelosi and Feinstein lived across from each other for 30 years. Nancy and Dianne have a personal relationship that predates their political relationship. Dianne knows all of her children.
It was the two who really brought the 1984 Democratic National Convention to San Francisco. When Representative Sala Burton died in 1987, Dianne briefly considered running for Congress, but put it off when Nancy decided to run.
Like Feinstein where to stop speculating That Gov. Gavin Newsom would Rep. Name Barbara Lee, a rival from Schiff, as her successor, which would give Lee an advantage in the 2024 election for the Senate seat.
I don’t see politics. It tries to be half too clever, connecting dots. The idea that this is all a plot to elect Adam Schiff seems like the dumbest form of speculation.
Agreed.
