Amanda Gorman Opened Up About Her Plans To Enter Politics
"I don't have to change who I am to be a leader."
Amanda Gorman has a pretty impressive CV. She’s done basically everything — from graduating from Harvard and performing at President Biden’s inauguration to making the New York Times Best Sellers list and landing a major modeling contract with IMG. However, the former National Youth Poet Laureate might be setting her sights on something even bigger: the White House. In a recent interview, the 23-year-old poet talked about her political aspirations. So will Amanda Gorman run for president? The odds are looking pretty good.
As both an artist and activist, Gorman — whose poetry focuses on social justice issues like racism and feminism — is no stranger to the political sphere. In fact, it first lady Dr. Jill Biden who *specifically* recommended that Gorman perform at her husband’s inauguration, which is v impressive. In a March 2021 interview with People, she said that during her time studying sociology at Harvard, she aspired to attend law school and run for local public office.
However, her dreams shifted when she realized she could use her arts background as part of her political platform. “Now I realized that perhaps my path will be [different than law school], that it might be performing my poetry and touching people that way,” she told People, further noting that she hopes to build a platform from her own beliefs, thoughts, and ideas. Aside from poetry, she also finds inspiration in female politicians who help her see “how I can make that leadership and that path my own.”
Clearly, Gorman has #goals. Her August 24 interview with WSJ. magazine, though, finally addresses what so many of Gorman’s supporters have been curious about: Yes, the young poet is seriously running for president one day, and she refuses to “change” herself in the process. Love to see it!
“I used to think about it in the more traditional sense of, OK, we're going to do this poetry thing for a little bit, and then you're going to put the pen down and switch over to politics," she told the magazine. “Being able to talk to people like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, I realized I don't have to change who I am to be a leader. If anything, those qualities will be what becomes my strength when I bring them into my field.”
Gorman also confessed to WSJ. that she knows running for office is a complicated subject: “I've always understood the potential of the presidency or political office to both be terrific and also toxic and terrible,” she noted.
The 23-year-old plans on running in 2036, when she’s in her late-30s. While that’s not for another 15 years, the poet said she prefers thinking ahead. “I think to make the impossible more proximate, you have to treat it as if it's in reaching distance,” she added.
True that, Ms. Future President!
