The theater in Pfeiffer Hall yesterday was filled with middle-aged white men and women — with a few younger faces scattered throughout the seats. People chattered excitedly, waiting for the woman of the hour to step onstage: former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Haley, who recently released her latest autobiography “With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace,” has been on a book tour for the past week.
Photo by Noah Cordoba
Haley’s book tour is taking her around the country from NYC to Nashville to Naperville.
The title of Haley’s book is reminiscent of her response to a colleague who insisted she must be confused about the Russian sanctions. Haley quickly clapped back, “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”
Haley’s memoir focuses on her time as governor of South Carolina, particularly after the AME Church shooting in 2015. From there, she moves on to make the bold claim that certain White House officials tried to recruit her in an effort to undermine the president.
Haley recently spoke out on the “Today” show about the president, saying “In every instance that I dealt with him, he was truthful, he listened, and he was great to work with.” Her words on NBC’s “Today” show, although echoed in her book, seemed to be at odds for many people with the fact that she resigned from her ambassador position.
On Wednesday, Haley was introduced with a video. She walked onstage as the video ended and the audience erupted into applause. Some stood. Some cheered. It lasted for several moments. Haley seemed truly touched.
The event, sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop, opened with questions about Haley’s childhood. She explained that growing up in an Indian family in a small South Carolina town presented certain challenges.
“We weren’t white enough to be white, we weren’t black enough to be black. My father wore a turban … my mother a sari. They didn’t know who we were or what we were doing there,” said Haley.
As she continued speaking about her childhood, she took the time to discuss how her disqualification in the (Little) Miss Bamberg Pageant affected her.
“All the women put their daughters in (the pageant) so my mom decided she was going to put us in it,” said Haley. “As we got there, and things started to happen, they disqualified me and my sister because they had a black queen and a white queen and they said we didn’t fit in either one.”
The audience audibly reacted, a collective “awww” that filled the theater. Haley’s pageant story, along with many of the other stories she shared, was almost word for word from her book. Yet, the stories never failed to elicit gasps, laughs and even some disgruntled outbursts from the audience.
Photo by Noah Cordoba
It was clear that those at the event were true fans of Haley’s.
Marika Werynski of Plainfield said, “I hope she’s going to be the president in 2024. (The) first female president, I think it’s going to be her.”
Haley has yet to indicate whether she has any interest in running for president in the future. However, as the impeachment hearings continue, there is speculation that she may be picked for a vice president position in 2020. The rumors have not been confirmed.
As it is, Nikki Haley’s memoir “With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace” is available now at Anderson’s Bookshop and other booksellers. Her tour will continue through Dec. 10.
Anderson’s Bookshop will next be sponsoring former first daughters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush this Sunday at Pfeiffer Hall. Tickets are still available.
