Paula Broadwell
I was driven when I was younger. Driven at West Point where it was much more competitive in that women were competing with men on many levels, and I was driven in the military and at Harvard, both competitive environments.
I think it is important for working moms to recognize that family is the most important.
Even when you've made mistakes in life, you can still contribute and pick up the stuff and move on.
I grew up in a strong faith-based family. I think I have selected to return to those roots for strength, for my family, for myself and to protect our children and to forgive others and move on and face forward.
I introduced myself to then-Lieutenant General Petraeus and told him about my research interests; he gave me his card and offered to put me in touch with other researchers and service members working on the same issues.
A few months into my research, General Petraeus, who was then leading Central Command, invited me to go for a run with him and his team along the Potomac River during one of his visits to Washington. I figured I could interview him while we ran.
Yes, I wear a number of hats. But my most important title is mom and wife.
We have to raise our young boys to respect women and our young girls to demand respect and to get their values from something other than their physicality.Collection: Girl
I'm not in love with David Petraeus. But I think he does present a terrific role model.Collection: Thinking
Having a bunch of medals and badges doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve achieved anything, you’ve got to do something beyond yourself to make a difference in life. Seek to be consequential in whatever you do.Collection: Mean
If I'm strong, I'm not going to apologize for being strong.Collection: Strong
The national media don't know me. They know the caricature that was created of me by journalists who were frankly jealous of my access. And it was a very negative caricature. There's this propensity for blaming a woman. It comes down to implicit bias. There are so many studies that show this.Collection: Jealous
When I fell, some people were in such shock that they didn't reach out. They were so mad at me, rather than having compassion for what happened. I lost a lot of friends.Collection: Compassion
I was in such a state of mental shock and quickly spiraled into a depression at the multitude of loss. My husband, I thought, was going to leave me. I was cut off from this mentor and someone I cared for very much, David Petraeus, who also did nothing to stand up for me and in fact, empowered his surrogates to throw me under the bus, and that was devastating.Collection: Husband
My local paper, The New York Times, Yahoo News, CBS, and The Washington Post, all agreed to stop using the word 'mistress.' The big one was the Associated Press. They made a style change, and it's the gold standard that sets the guide for news outlets around the world. That's a small step for the American language, a medium step for feminism, and a huge step for me personally.Collection: New York
We had to communicate through our lawyers a couple of times over the years, and [David Petraeus] told me that people have been like, "Good job, Dave." Congratulating him. That's the double standard. I've concluded that sharing it won't change anything.Collection: Jobs
My husband and I each had careers and two babies at home. They just demand everything from you. All the domestic duties fell to me and this resentment builds, as I think happens to a lot of young parents who have competing careers.Collection: Baby
While I fully recognize I had made a mistake in the whole relationship, and I'll call it a human error, I hesitate to call myself a victim because I strongly believe one should take responsibility for their actions.Collection: Mistake
I had been sort of a rising star - an athlete, a scholar, a leader. My dream was to become a high-level national security adviser.Collection: Dream
It's the fact that you can reduce my whole life to one word, whatever it is, my entire career, my service to my country, my academic rigor, my courage in going to interview terrorists, and refugee camps, and third-world prisons.Collection: Country
The story is framed around [avid Petraeus] resignation. So many headlines that followed talked about his ruined career. They completely ignore the fact that my career was ruined, other peoples' careers were ruined. They focus on him as the victim.Collection: Careers
I just figured, for the most part, mainstream networks stopped using [mistress word]. Those are small brush fires. The election made me realize we've got forest fires that we collectively need to be focused on.Collection: Fire
I also feel like I've done plenty of wrong things. I'm not innocent here, and I'm certainly not going to be righteous about that.Collection: Done
I haven't had senators advocating for me.Collection: Advocating
I think the public doesn't understand that one of the reasons I haven't stood up for myself is because in order to do that, I have to stoop to a level that further humiliates other people.Collection: Thinking
[Fighting for equality for women] that's what my mission has been for the last years.Collection: Fighting
I had been working on a second book with [David] Petraeus called Relentless. Obviously that book and the income that it would have generated went away.Collection: Book
If Ivanka Trump called, I think good people need to serve.Collection: Thinking
I want to serve. I love my country. I love service above self and I don't want my talents to go to waste. I also want to send a message to other men and women who've tripped over themselves, or over life: that you need to serve your time in purgatory.Collection: Country
You need to accept responsibility for your mistakes. And I've done that.Collection: Mistake
I'm 100 percent serious. I've been fighting for equality for women's issues my entire life, in the military included.Collection: Military
When I get this kind of support, I feel validated in my decision to stand up for myself.Collection: Support
We [in Think Broader.] went through and looked at coverage in different industries and were able to point out to newsrooms that they had these hidden biases. We'd do a review and provide a report card, and provide our suggestion on how to avoid bias.Collection: Thinking
The word is a label and I don't like it at all.Collection: Labels
It's reducing my entire professional career and background to this one word [mistress].Collection: Careers
Imagine what Ivanka Trump life has been like? She's been eaten alive by the media. I have empathy for that.Collection: Media
I was a Ph.D. student at a very reputable university, I was a Harvard research associate at one of the world's premier leadership institutions.Collection: World
As a feminist, I'll wear whatever I want to.Collection: Feminist
It's part of the reason I decided to speak out now. This was the tipping point for me. If it's O.K. for [David Petraeus ] to campaign for a job in the administration, then I'm going to campaign to get back out there, too.Collection: Jobs
I just genuinely believe in the concept of redemption and renewal, so I was happy. When I get beyond my feelings, I had my own family and friends and so many women across America come to me and say their blood was boiling, asking me how this could happen.Collection: Believe
I've moved on with my life and I'm trying to find a path to re-establish my career.Collection: Careers
You can reclaim your own narrative.Collection: Narrative
Sometime ago, I teamed up with a former Marine attack helicopter pilot. We were both frustrated by biased coverage of women in the military and said, let's form some kind of nonprofit entity where we can start highlighting the prevalence of bias in the media.Collection: Military
I'm really happy for [David Petraeus]. He's exceptionally talented.Collection: Really Happy
Hopefully women can work with [Ivanka Trump ] to influence up the chain of command. I think it's good for us, for women. It's a glimmer of hope.Collection: Thinking
I think Ivanka Trump she has this power and powerful women are reaching out to her and she needs to take advantage of that.Collection: Powerful
I think Donald Trump is the best person for the job. It comes back to redemption campaign rhetoric. They all say that stuff.[Barack] Obama and [Hillary] Clinton said that about each other.Collection: Jobs
[My kids] were very young at the time and didn't realize what was going on. We told them that mom made a mistake and people want to talk about it in the news so they're outside our house.Collection: Mom
I was encouraged, though, because I saw feminist writers - male and female - calling out the bias. I feel like more and more writers are cognizant of the problems and are willing to try to challenge them.Collection: Feminist
I was incredulous as the bias of the media in terms of the candidates [for presidency]. I was incredulous at the fake news.Collection: Media