Exclusive: Inside the room where Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence shared an emotional embrace in front of America’s leadership class

Twenty seconds was all it took for former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former Vice President Mike Pence to share an emotional embrace in front of America’s leadership class. The scene unfolded at the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, where they were presented with the inaugural Yale Patriot Public Service Award for Executive Leadership.

The event, hosted by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, drew bipartisan attendees who gathered to honor two individuals who had put their country above their party and themselves. During the ceremony, former Democratic House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt commended Pence for putting country over party and himself, while Republican U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills praised Pelosi for taking principled positions and putting policy over politics.

Former Federal Reserve Chair and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who couldn’t attend in person, sent a pre-recorded tribute highlighting Pelosi’s remarkable ability to find solutions in seemingly impossible political situations, driven by a strong moral compass. Both awards aimed to recognize Americans across party lines who have devoted their lives to public service and executed it with integrity, civility, and devotion to the country.