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The 2000s in America

Pelosi, Nancy

by Brenda Kim

Identification: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 2007 to 2011

Born: March 26, 1940; Baltimore, Maryland

US congresswoman Nancy Pelosi grew up in a political family, Both her father and brother served as mayor of Baltimore, and her father also served in the US House of Representatives. Rather than following immediately in their footsteps, Pelosi first took time to raise a family and relocate to California, where she began working for a local Democratic committee before becoming a member in the US House of Representatives.

Nancy Pelosi was born Nancy D’Alesandro in March 1940, the daughter of prominent congressman Thomas D’Alesandro and his wife Annunciata. Nancy attended Catholic high school in Baltimore, and graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame in 1958. She earned her bachelor of arts degree in political science from Trinity College in Washington, DC, in 1962.

Pelosi’s politics had always been in line with her constituents in the San Francisco area. Firmly entrenched in the left of the political spectrum, she campaigned for gay rights, abortion access, health care for the poor, and human rights around the world. Taking a seat in a congress composed of more moderate Democrats from other less liberal parts of the country was a balancing act for Pelosi. While she easily won reelection term after term, making sure she was not shunned within the party for some of her more controversial causes took considerably more work.

Pelosi had a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, but her big political break came in October 2001, when she was elected the Democratic Party whip. With this position, she became the party’s second in command and was distinguished as the highest-ranking woman in Congress. The whip is responsible for strategizing with party members to get legislation passed that furthers the party goals. One of the first tests of her ability in this role was the campaign finance reform bill that Congress passed in 2001. Pelosi worked with members of the House and the Senate through every new amendment and voting shift to keep the bill from being stopped by Republicans.

In the November 2002 congressional elections, Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives, giving the Republicans a twenty-four-seat majority. Former Democratic majority leader Dick Gephardt left his post to concentrate on his 2004 presidential bid, and Pelosi worked hard to gain support from her fellow Democrats for the job. Despite opposition from Congressman Martin Frost from Tennessee, Pelosi was elected House Minority Leader on November 14, 2002. She was the first woman both to hold such a rank in Congress and to be elected to the top post in a major political party.

In November of 2006, Pelosi was chosen as the first female Speaker of the House after the Democratic Party regained majority of control in Congress. Pelosi was an ardent and vocal supporter of the health care reform initiative of 2009. Following the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in March 2010, Pelosi’s work was praised by US president Barack Obama, who called her one of the best Speakers in the history of the US Congress. Following the November 2010 midterm elections, the Republican Party regained control of Congress, forcing Pelosi to step down as Speaker of the House.

Nancy Pelosi

AUGHTS_PelosiNancy.jpg

(Courtesy Talk Radio News Service)

Impact

Pelosi was the first woman to serve as the Speaker of the House—making her the highest-ranking female politician in American history. She is known for her advocacy for women’s rights, gay rights, and human rights. Pelosi was an important supporter of health care and played a role in passing Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Further Reading

1 

Peters, Ronald M., Jr., and Cindy Simon Rosenthal. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the New American Politics. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

2 

Povich, Elaine S. Nancy Pelosi: A Biography. Westport: Greenwood, 2008. Print.

3 

Sandalow, Marc. Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi’s Life, Times, and Rise to Power. New York: Rodale, 2008. Print.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Kim, Brenda. "Pelosi, Nancy." The 2000s in America, edited by Craig Belanger, Salem Press, 2013. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=2000_0294.
APA 7th
Kim, B. (2013). Pelosi, Nancy. In C. Belanger (Ed.), The 2000s in America. Salem Press.
CMOS 17th
Kim, Brenda. "Pelosi, Nancy." Edited by Craig Belanger. The 2000s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2013. Accessed September 18, 2025. online.salempress.com.