We lived in Peoria. I like manufacturing towns because people work, and it’s a different mentality. It was a good place to learn about working and industry in America.
You learn great lessons if you are lucky enough to have great parents. My mom used to say, if you see something wrong, get off your duff and fix it.
We had a very small Jewish population, and so it was never really that you felt totally accepted. We just made it our business to be accepted. Mother volunteered for everything. My dad did really good things like pay for the polio vaccines at our grade school.
Suzy (her sister, Susan G. Komen) asked me if I would cure the disease, and she was dying, and I promised I would. Obviously haven’t done it. But I forgave myself as time went on, because we funded more than $3 billion of science. It was huge.
You have to have thick skin sometimes. When I first started Susan Komen, I took everything personally. ‘What do you mean you don’t want to join the organization?’ It used to really hurt my feelings.
I thought it would be incredible when I was little to be a First Lady. I grew out of that when I saw what all the rules were and everything. I was very lucky to have friends who were First Ladies.
I loved Gerald Ford and Betty. They were just terrific as a couple, and as people. Betty Ford was my absolute role model. When she came out with breast cancer, that did it.
Ronald Reagan — he was such a good guy. Nancy and I got friendly because she had breast cancer.
I can’t think of too many people who didn’t like the Bushes. It’s hard to dislike the Bushes and, if you do, there’s something wrong with you, because they’re such good people.
President Bush was always so gracious to everybody. Laura was — is — so charming. Laura’s remained a very, very close friend. I loved being in Africa, going there with them, on the trips where George Bush was working on the PEPFAR program (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ).
I’ve worked with Michelle on a couple things she was doing. And I like Barack Obama. I think he’s very smart. I think that he did some nice, good things for our country.
I like people generally right away. The Bidens — I always liked them. And Joe Biden always helped us with stuff we were trying in the early days of Komen.
I have to tell you, I don’t disagree with a lot of things that President Trump has done at all, because I think that nobody’s perfect. Nobody’s ever going to do what you want to do all the way around.
I like doers, you know, and all those people are doers. We may not have liked what they were doing, but they had a certain energy.
I still do my little TV thing [Conversations with Nancy Brinker, Newsmax] because I love it. I like talking and meeting people who are very talented and doing different things.
My son wants to do a film about the breast cancer movement. He said he grew up with more pink things in his room than any boy should have.
I was flattered when the Bushes asked me. They called me one day and asked if I would think about being chief of protocol.
I love the protocol job. And I got to meet so many incredible people, you start getting blurry with all the people you’re meeting. But I like the idea of showing them the best museums, talk about our religions, talk about whatever. I said, what we really ought to do is travel them around the country, ask them what they want to see. We called it ‘Experience America.’
I had such a wonderful time being married to Norman. You know, he built Steak and Ale and Bennigan’s. He was amazing. He taught me so much. He was a poor boy. Grew up in Roswell, New Mexico. He was very, very supportive when I wanted to do this for Suzy. He was a genius at restaurants. He had such a sensitivity for people.
“How lucky I am that I got to do this. I’ve just been lucky in my life.”
They called and they said, President Obama would like to offer you the Medal of Freedom. And I said, ‘Who is this?’ Really, I couldn’t believe it. I was pinching myself for a long time.
I like making things happen. That’s what we’re trying to do now with the Promise Fund. We’ve screened about 17,000 women so far, and that’s really good. I’m hoping we can replicate it in other states. Our long-term goal is to share the wisdom.