Here’s a look at the life of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a representative from California since 1987.
Personal:
Birth date: March 26, 1940
Birth name: Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro
Birth place: Baltimore, Maryland
Father: Thomas D’Alesandro, Baltimore mayor and US congressman
Mother: Annunciata (Lombardi) D’Alesandro, a homemaker
Marriage: Paul F. Pelosi (1963-present)
Children: Nancy, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul and Alexandra
Education: Trinity College, Washington, DC (Now Trinity Washington University), A.B. in Political Science, 1962
Religion: Roman Catholic
Other Facts:
First woman to lead a major congressional party.
Timeline:
1977-1981 – Chair, Northern California Democratic Party.
1981-1983 – Chair, California State Democratic Party.
1984 – San Francisco Democratic National Convention Host Committee Chairwoman.
1985-1986 – Finance Chairwoman, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
June 2, 1987 – Wins a special election in California’s 5th Congressional District, filling seat of Representative Sala Burton.
1987-1993 – Represents California’s 5th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives.
January 12, 1991 – Votes against authorizing use of force in Iraq (House Resolution 77).
1993-2013 – Represents California’s 8th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives.
2001 – Becomes the first woman to be elected House minority whip.
October 2002 – Votes against authorizing use of military force in Iraq.
November 14, 2002 – Is elected House minority leader by fellow Democrats, and becomes the highest-ranking woman in congressional history.
November 7, 2006 – Democrats win a majority in the House. Pelosi becomes the speaker of the House when the new congress begins in January 2007. She is the first female speaker of the House and the first woman to be as high in the line of succession to the presidency (second behind the vice president).
January 4, 2007-January 3, 2011 – Speaker of the House.
April 1-6, 2007 – Pelosi leads a bipartisan delegation from the House on a trip through the Middle East. The group travels to Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, meeting with heads of state.
November 4, 2008 – Is re-elected with more than 70% of the vote.
February 18, 2009 – Meets with Pope Benedict XVI.
February 2009 – Leads a congressional delegation to Afghanistan and meets with President Hamid Karzai.
March 21, 2010 – Pelosi leads the House in passing the health care reform bill proposed by President Barack Obama.
November 17, 2010 – In a 150-43 vote, Pelosi is elected to serve as minority leader in the next Congress.
2013-present – Represents California’s 12th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives.
January 3, 2013 – Pelosi challenges John Boehner for speaker of the House but loses 220-192. She instead is re-elected as House minority leader.
November 4, 2014 – Is re-elected with more than 82% of the vote.
November 30, 2016 – Is re-elected as House Democratic leader.
January 3, 2017 – Is re-elected as House minority leader, with four of her colleagues voting for someone else for the top Democratic post following a year that saw both parties questioning their congressional leadership.