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Nancy Pelosi
Also Known As Nancy Patricia Pelosi
United States House of Representatives
![Nancy Pelosi's profile picture Nancy Pelosi's profile picture](https://10k-staging.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/edgar0105/peopleImages/Nancy Pelosi/Nancy Pelosi-profile-pic.jpg)
Nancy Patricia Pelosi is an American politician who served as the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman elected Speaker and the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, leading the House Democrats from 2003 to 2023. She has represented California's 11th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 1987. The district, numbered as the 5th district from 1987 to 1993, the 8th from 1993 to 2013, and the 12th from 2013 to 2023, includes most of the city of San Francisco.
Pelosi was born and raised in Baltimore, the daughter of mayor and congressman Thomas D'Alesandro. She graduated from Trinity College, Washington, in 1962 and married businessman Paul Pelosi the next year; the two had met while both were students. They moved to New York City before settling down in San Francisco with their children. Focused on raising her family, Pelosi stepped into politics as a volunteer for the Democratic Party. She was first elected to Congress in a 1987 special election and is now in her 19th term; she is the dean of California's congressional delegation. Pelosi steadily rose through the ranks of the House Democratic Caucus to be elected House minority whip in 2001 and elevated to House minority leader a year later, becoming the first woman to hold each of those positions in either chamber of Congress.
In the 2006 midterm elections, Pelosi led the Democrats to a majority in the House for the first time in 12 years and was subsequently elected Speaker, becoming the first woman to hold the office. During her first speakership, Pelosi was a major opponent of the Iraq War as well as the Bush administration's attempts to partially privatize Social Security. She participated in the passage of the Obama administration's landmark bills, including the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the 2010 Tax Relief Act. Pelosi lost the speakership after the Republican Party retook the majority in the 2010 midterm elections, but she retained her role as leader of the House Democrats and became House minority leader for a second time.
In the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats regained majority control of the House, and Pelosi was again elected Speaker, becoming the first former speaker to reclaim the gavel since Sam Rayburn in 1955. During her second speakership, the House twice impeached President Donald Trump, first in December 2019 and again in January 2021; the Senate acquitted Trump both times. She participated in the passage of the Biden administration's landmark bills, including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and the Respect for Marriage Act. In the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans narrowly regained control of the House for the new Congress, ending her tenure as speaker. On November 29, 2022, the Steering and Policy Committee of the House Democratic Caucus named Pelosi "Speaker Emerita".
Early Life
Nancy Patricia Pelosiborn on March 26, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland, to an Italian-American family. She was the only daughter and the youngest of six children of Annunciata M. "Nancy" D'Alesandro (née Lombardi) and Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. Her mother was born in Fornelli, Isernia, Molise, in Southern Italy, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1912; her father traced his Italian ancestry to Genoa, Venice and Abruzzo. When Pelosi was born, her father was a Democratic congressman from Maryland. He became Baltimore mayor seven years later. Pelosi's mother was also active in politics, organizing Democratic women and teaching her daughter political skills. Pelosi's brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, also a Democrat, was elected Baltimore City Council president and later served as mayor from 1967 to 1971.
Pelosi helped her father at his campaign events, and she attended President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address in January 1961.
In 1958, Pelosi graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, an all-girls Catholic high school in Baltimore. In 1962, she graduated from Trinity College (now Trinity Washington University) in Washington, D.C., with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. Pelosi interned for Senator Daniel Brewster (D-Maryland) in the 1960s alongside future House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
After moving to San Francisco, Pelosi became friends with 5th district congressman Phillip Burton and began working her way up in Democratic politics. In 1976, she was elected as a Democratic National Committee member from California, a position she would hold until 1996. She was elected as party chair for Northern California in 1977, and four years later was selected to head the California Democratic Party, which she led until 1983. Subsequently, Pelosi served as the San Francisco Democratic National Convention Host Committee chairwoman in 1984, and then as Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee finance chair from 1985 to 1986.
Education
- Pelosi graduated - the Institute of Notre Dame
- high school in Baltimore -
- Graduated - Bachelor of Arts in political science - Trinity College in Washington, D.C.
Career
- US - House of Representatives
Recognition
Italy - Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on June 2, 2007 (Officer on June 2, 2001).
Japan - Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun on April 29, 2015.
Philippines - Grand Cross of the Order of the Golden Heart on June 23, 2008.
Taiwan - Grand Cross, Special Class of the Order of Propitious Clouds on August 3, 2022.
Ukraine - Member of the Order of Princess Olga on April 30, 2022.
Ukraine - Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise on October 21, 2022.
Spain - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic on May 11, 2023