WHEN US Speaker Nancy Pelosi retires at the end of her term in early 2027, she will close a remarkable 39-year run representing San Francisco in Congress.
Pelosi, now 85, has become one of the most powerful and recognisable figures in American politics. She is the first and only woman to ever serve as speaker of the US House of Representatives, steering landmark legislation through a deeply polarised Washington.
Her record includes the Affordable Care Act, major climate bills and the stimulus packages that helped pull the country through both the 2007-09 financial crisis and Covid-19 pandemic.
That success also made her a top target for Republicans, especially President Donald Trump, who often cast her as the embodiment of Democratic resistance.
Born in 1940 in Baltimore, Pelosi grew up in a household where her father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr, was already a Democratic congressman.
By 1947, he was mayor of Baltimore, and a seven-year-old Pelosi swore him into office.
She absorbed politics at the dinner table, attended an all-girls Catholic high school and later enrolled at Trinity College in Washington DC, just far enough from home to satisfy her parents.
Her 20s and 30s followed a familiar path for women of her generation.
She met her husband, Paul Pelosi, while they were taking summer classes at Georgetown University. They settled in his hometown of San Francisco, where she stayed home to raise their five children.
But Pelosi was never far from the political world. She built close ties with leading San Francisco Democrats by hosting fundraisers at the family’s large home.
In 1976, she was elected to the Democratic National Committee representing California, and in 1981, she became the first woman to head the California Democratic Party.
She helped secure the 1984 Democratic National Convention for San Francisco, the same year Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman nominated for vice-president by a major party.
June 2, 1987: Her first election win
Despite decades around politics, Pelosi didn’t run for office until she was 47.
After the death of Representative Phillip Burton in 1983, his wife, Sala Burton, filled the seat but soon fell ill. Pelosi, already close to the Burtons, was urged by Sala to run when the time came.
The special election arrived in June 1987. Pelosi narrowly defeated Harry Britt, a socialist and former aide to Harvey Milk, the San Francisco supervisor assassinated in 1978.
It was Pelosi’s first elected role and the beginning of her long tenure in Congress.
Jan 4, 2007: Breaking the marble ceiling
Pelosi spent her early years in the House in the minority but climbed steadily, becoming minority leader in 2002. After engineering a Democratic takeover in the 2006 mid-terms, she became the first female speaker in US history.
Pelosi marked the moment with symbolism: she invited lawmakers’ children and grandchildren to crowd around her at the rostrum as she took the oath.
Pelosi opening the 110th Congress, surrounded by lawmakers’ children and grandchildren, as she is sworn in as the first female speaker in US history in this filepic from Jan 4, 2007. — Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
When Democrats regained the House in 2019, she reclaimed the speaker’s gavel and repeated the gesture.
In her 2024 book, The Art of Power, Pelosi wrote that children have always been her motivation. Their health, education, financial security, safety and the promise of a peaceful world formed the basis of her platform.
“These are my priorities,” she wrote.
March 23, 2010: Obamacare becomes law
Pelosi stood behind President Barack Obama as he signed the Affordable Care Act into law in March 2010.
The sweeping overhaul, known as Obamacare, expanded healthcare access to millions. Obama hailed her as “one of the best speakers the House of Representatives has ever had”.
Pelosi has long described the ACA as her “major accomplishment”, and despite repeated Republican efforts to repeal it, the law endures.
Its ongoing funding battles even contributed to the recent federal government shutdown.
2019–2020: The Trump clashes
Pelosi’s fraught relationship with Trump produced some of the most memorable images of her career.
She criticised him from the moment he entered politics, but her discontent burst into full public view at the 2020 State of the Union address.
As Trump finished speaking, Pelosi tore up her copy of the remarks at the speaker’s desk.
The White House and Republicans erupted, but Pelosi didn’t back down.
She later said the act felt “liberating” and accused Trump of having “shred the truth” in his speech.
She kept the torn pages as a memento.
Nov 4, 2025: A new political fight
Most recently, Pelosi celebrated the success of Proposition 50, a California measure aimed at countering Republican-led efforts to redraw congressional districts in their favour.
Speaking to reporters on election night, she called its passage “everything to us”, describing it as the “first step” towards Democrats reclaiming the House.
“It means that we are able to defend our Constitution, our democracy,” she said.
Pelosi had promised that once voters had spoken, she would reveal whether she intended to seek another term.
Two days later, on Nov 6, she confirmed that this would be her final one.
After nearly four decades in Congress, she is preparing to step away, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped the chamber she once dominated and an imprint on American politics that will not fade anytime soon. — ©2025 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times
