Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer remembers Dianne Feinstein
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00:00 trailblazer in American politics and a female icon. California Senator Dianne
00:04 Feinstein has died at the age of 90. Her desk in the Senate chamber draped with
00:09 a black cloth and a vase of white flowers in her honor. After becoming the
00:13 first female mayor of San Francisco, she became the longest serving female
00:18 senator in American history. Flags flying at half staff at the White House
00:22 where she's being remembered. And President Biden is also paying his
00:26 respects and he did it during a speech in Arlington, Virginia.
00:30 She was a historic figure, trailblazer for women and a great friend. Diane
00:36 made her mark on everything from national security to the environment,
00:40 gun safety to protecting civil liberties.
00:43 Country is going to miss her dearly. And so will Jill and I
00:47 for more now in her life and legacy. The late Senator Dianne Feinstein. I
00:55 want to bring in a former California senator that knew her very well, worked
00:59 together with her quite a bit. Barbara Boxer. She's actually joining us by
01:03 phone. Senators, thank you so much for calling in growing up in California. I
01:09 know how the two of you have been close. You have worked together politically
01:14 through lots of personal um times as well. Let's just start with when you
01:21 first met her and the power of your friendship, not just personally but
01:26 politically.
01:27 Right. Well, our friendship was forged when we both found ourselves running
01:34 together on the ballot in California. This huge state that never had elected
01:41 ever one woman, let alone two women to the United States Senate and no state
01:47 had ever elected two women and our friendship and our bond was formed. And
01:52 I have to be totally honest. I people say, how did you do it? Because when I
01:58 ran, I was an asterisk in the polls. Literally, um, Senator Feinstein was
02:03 really well known because she had been the mayor of San Francisco forged in
02:08 that double assassination. And she ran for governor. She didn't make it, but
02:12 she ran a great race and people knew and loved her. And I was somebody
02:16 nobody knew. So Senator Feinstein could have said, Barbara, you're on your own.
02:22 I'm gonna run my own campaign. But she didn't do that. She grabbed my hand. It
02:27 just gives me the chills to think about it because she didn't have to do that.
02:30 And they called us the Thelma and Louise of California. Somebody did a
02:35 great cartoon about that, and we made it together. And even though we had some
02:41 different approaches, you know, I was more liberal. She was more centrist
02:45 that never got in the way. We always knew we could. If we had differences,
02:50 they wouldn't be personal. They never got personal.
02:53 Yeah, both of you were household names as we were going up. Both of my parents,
02:58 teachers, um, and my mom in particular would mention the two of you quite a
03:04 bit as I was growing up in California. And I'm just curious, um, together, how
03:10 did you? How did you support each other? When you were dealing with a male
03:15 dominated field and and both of you very strong women. But there are times
03:21 when sometimes you have to come together with your girlfriends and say, you
03:24 know what? We got to do something here. How did you? How did you support each
03:31 other? And maybe there's a particular time where she really helped you or you
03:35 were able to help her sort of forged through kind of that male dominated
03:39 world.
03:41 Well, you know, it was a great question because we were so different in our
03:46 style, even in our physical appearance. She's really for me very tall. I
03:52 barely five feet. So we were together when it came to California and when it
03:57 came to issues like gun violence and she was such a heroine on that front.
04:03 Um, we we work together, but we did it in a strategic way. We planned it. You
04:08 know, I would always laughingly say I'll take the short senators. You take
04:12 the tall one. And, you know, because we had a little bit different views, we
04:17 had different coalitions and different friends in the House and the Senate, and
04:21 we use that to our advantage. And I think your mom would say, um, and you
04:26 may well remember in those years, people thought, Oh, they'll fight.
04:30 They'll fight. There'll be cat fights every day because they're in
04:34 competition. And there was even one reporter that had a column where he
04:39 was trying to focus on every time we had a different perspective. No one
04:43 had ever done that with two male senators. So we knew that we had to
04:48 prove that women can get along even when they disagree. And we had the
04:53 strength to lead, and it was quite a ride. 24 years in the United States
04:58 Senate. Yeah, you did it. I remember people wanted to pitch you against each
05:03 other, and neither one of you were having that nonsense. No, we wouldn't
05:08 have that nonsense. And again, we did have our disagreements over the war in
05:14 Iraq is an example. A couple of environmental issues. But we went out
05:19 for dinner, and we looked at each other across the table and said, Do no harm.
05:25 You do what you have to do, but it's not a battle. And we were able to do
05:30 that. And I'm so thrilled because after we broke that glass ceiling of
05:36 having the two women, many other states now have two women. And of course,
05:41 when we got elected, we went to six women out of 100. Now there's a
05:47 quarter of the Senate. It really needs to be 50% just because women are 50%
05:52 of the population. But I am bad today because we're losing her. But I know
06:02 she had a rough, rough year, and I want her to rest in peace. She worked up
06:08 into the last minute, which is just how she would have wanted it. Can I ask you,
06:14 Barbara? You You have been quoted saying that today, saying it was a
06:18 very, very, very tough ending and a rough ending for her. What do you mean
06:22 by that? Well, she had illness. Her illness was awful. The shingles and how
06:29 it impacted her and in physical ways and even in ways where you know, she
06:35 she she lost a step or two, and that was hard. Um, and and and the other thing
06:44 is the stress on her because Republicans would not. They said they
06:49 wouldn't replace her on the Judiciary Committee if she stepped aside and she
06:53 had the, you know, responsibility on her shoulders to stay on that committee so
06:59 we could get judges confirmed and it made it rough on her. So it was very
07:07 hard. You know, a lot of people loved her, said Diane, go home because you
07:11 need a rest and get well. Other people saying, Oh, my God, you have to stay.
07:15 It was just hard and that she had other personal things that I don't even know
07:20 about that were in the paper. So it just was a hard ending. But but because she
07:27 focused on the work and her responsibility up into the last minute,
07:31 I mean, she just proved something that we all need to know. Never give up.
07:38 She channeled her Winston Churchill, didn't she? Former Senator Barbara
07:43 Boxer. Thank you so much. I really wanted to talk to you today and I'm so
07:47 glad you called in. Thank you.
07:48 A pleasure. Bye bye.
07:51 Hi, everyone. George Stephanopoulos here. Thanks for checking out the ABC
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