Abigail Spanberger
The Diplomat
People, composure and the difficult conversation held well.
Abigail Spanberger is a U.S. Representative who has successfully navigated a traditionally Republican district by presenting herself as a unifying figure. This interview highlights her ability to build coalitions and her focus on collaborative problem-solving in a polarized political environment.
“It was really interesting. So you spend a semester of school living on Capitol Hill. You go to school very early in the morning, and it's an abbreviated study day. I think it's about two hours worth of classes, and you get your core English. It's about as much as I used to spend in a full day. But anyway.”
“I guess it's one of those things you know what's out there based on what you see. My parents both were focused on service. My mother as a nurse and I had zero interest in going into the medical profession. My father was a public servant and believed very deeply in it.”
“So I think this is the cause of it. I had a neighbor who lived behind us when we were kids, and Yolanda was she lived behind us and she would babysit us some afternoons. And her grandchildren, her grandchildren were about our ages. And so we would play with her grandkids. And she was just this warm, beautiful woman.”
“No, so I applied across the board. And I went through the process for State Department, for Foreign Service. I went through the process with an SA, I went through the process with National Geospatial, and I really wanted to be a case officer. And I didn't necessarily know what that was, you know, from movies.”
The Axe Files with David Axelrod — Ep. 374 — Rep. Abigail Spanberger
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