With the clashing of heels and the clashing of political ideas, Nancy Pelosi does it best.  For decades the house of representatives has had Nancy Pelosi as their speaker of the house. But in recent news, Nancy Pelosi has come out and said that she will not be running for re-election in the next term. The reign of Nancy has come to an unforgettable end, from being one of the first women to ever be a speaker of the house, to helping many people across the nation. The mark that Nancy Pelosi left on politics itself was incomparable. Not just in the United States but around the world. She has a remarkable story and will always be an amazing example of someone who served her country well. 

On March 26, 1940, Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro was born. Nancy was born into a family full of politics and Catholic beliefs. Her father was Thomas D’Alesandro Jr and her mother was Anunciata D’Alesandro. Nancy’s father was an American politician who served as the 39th mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959 and also served as a member of Congress. From the day she was born, she had power and control always around in her presence. Her father was a huge role model for Nacy, when growing up Mrs. Pelosi would have to count votes and she would be gathering people in her own neighborhood to go vote for her father.

As a result of the immense influence her father had on her growing up, Mrs. Pelosi had no problem running for the congressional seat in 1987. Pelosi was taking on the persona her father had when she was running for office. She saw how her father got all those votes and she was applying what she witnessed to her own campaign. Her campaign was won on the ground, she was out there making sure she got the votes she deserved. She was out there going to people on the streets, finding her volunteers, and informing people about who and what she stands for. 

In 1987 she won the race to represent California’s 5th Congressional District and got her seat in Congress. From there she would fight for liberal causes from abortion rights, ADIS founding, and lots more. Within the time she spent fighting for all these causes, which was 15 years, she was voted for party leader for the democratic party. This was big news, this would be the first time that a party leader would be a female. Many were happy about this news because this would bring many women into the world of politics and this would bring in tons of women votes that would help Nancy keep fighting for all those causes. 

In 2002 Nancy Pelosi was elected minority leader, making her one of the most powerful and highest-ranking congresswomen of either party in United States history. Though she did have to fight for the role of leader, the most challenging part has yet to come. By 2006, the democratic party had lost six congressional elections in a row. The democratic party was in shambles and it was up to Nacy to try to fix this mess. Obviously, Nancy made it a priority to change the outcome of the next congressional elections. Under the reign of Nancy Pelosi, the democratic party got organized, structured, and voted to block republicans over ninety percent of the time.

Nancy Pelosi made it clear to her fellow party members that they should not be collaborating with the other side. The republican side was not letting the democratic side take home any legislative victories. Mrs. Pelosi was not one to hold back, she would go after people on the floor of the senate, and she would put people in their place. In an interview with Lesley Stahl a CBS news reporter, Lesley Stahl said, “ You have called your republican colleague immoral, corrupt, and you say that they’re running a criminal enterprise.” Mrs. Pelosi replied confidently, “ Well actually, when I called them those names I was being gentle. There are much worse things I could have said about them.” 

Being such a smart and powerful woman she had to play this “game” with precision, one small error, and the whole democratic party would fall again. She knew that in order to win the upcoming midterm election she needed help. That’s when Rahm Emanuel would come in, he was young and ready to strike congressmen. He had the ability to bring in votes and make people change sides on a legislative decision. Rahm Emanuel was Mrs. Pelosi’s wingman, he was always with Nancy and giving her the biggest leverage. 

With Rahm and Nancy, they would be the best political duo for the democratic party.  This would ensure that they would win in the 2006 midterm election for the democrats. One of the biggest things that gave Nancy a huge perk in the election was former president Bush’s Iraq war. This war from the beginning was a big mistake, president Bush was just digging The United States and himself into a bigger hole that was going to be hard to get out of. Nancy made sure that the nation and the world saw how costly this war was going to be.

As a result of all this hard and strategic planning, the democrats won the 2006 midterm election. But not only that, the democratic party voted to make Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House on January 4th, 2007. This would make history because this would be the first time that a woman would be appointed as The United States Speaker of the House of representatives.

As a woman in a male-dominated work environment, she was making history wherever she went. Mrs.Pelosi was not one to back down from a fight, and certainly not to a man. She knew from day one what she was getting herself into. But that didn’t stop her from giving it her all, she made sure that people would listen to and respect her. Not just because she’s a woman, but because she has worked as hard, and even harder than any of those men.

In 2009, Former President Barack Obama was inaugurated. This would make the democratic side control the house, senate, and executive branch. This would make the Republican side have little to no control. One thing that Obama wanted to do is health care reform, making sure that people in the United States have the ability to get health care. However, Obama wanted to get the republicans to vote on this bill as well. Nancy Pelosi knew that the republicans would not agree to such a thing. She has experience with handling things like this, she knew too well that the Republican side would act interested but they weren’t. From there she knew that in order to get this health care reform done, she needed to step in and redirect the president to only talk with the democrats, to get this done.  In 2010, healthcare reform was introduced by Former President Barack Obama. Nancy Pelosi went hard to work getting this passed. No Republicans voted yes to this bill, but all the democrats voted yes for it to be passed.

In the 2010 midterm elections, the republicans gained control of the House of Representatives making Nancy Pelosi step down from Speaker of the House. A big portion of the reason why the Republicans won the House was because of the health care reform. The Republicans were against health care reform and they wanted to make sure that the democratic side was punished for passing this bill. Nancy was a big part of why Health care reform happened, making her the biggest target for Republicans. Even though she did lose her role as Speaker of the House, she didn’t regret pushing out that bill. For the next upcoming eight years, she would be the minority leader for the democratic side… she will not give up. 

When former President Donald J. Trump became president, the House, and senate were controlled by the Republican side. Even though Mrs. Pelosi wasn’t Speaker of the House anymore, she still was the minority leader. She knew right away that she needed to stay and try to fight because she knew that the world of politics was going to get ugly. 

Right off the bat, Mr. Trump had a meeting with all congressional members including Mrs. Pelosi. In an interview with FRONTLINE PBS, she recalls what happened in that meeting. “How would the president begin this historic meeting, and what does this mean to him?” Nancy Pelosi thought, “ he puts his hands on the desk and then slouches into the desk, and said “You know I won the popular vote. Because five million people voted who were not legal to vote and so I won the popular vote.”  So I thought I would take the opportunity to tell the president that what he was saying was not true, there was no data, no truth, no facts, and no evidence to support what you’re saying.”

From that meeting, she knew that she had to stay and organize a campaign to get her back in control as The speaker of the House. However, this time people from within the democratic side were questioning if Nancy Pelosi should even be Speaker of the House again. Some wanted to let the newer generation of democrats take over. But even with people within her own party and people outside her party doubting her role as Speaker of the House, she was again elected as Speaker of the House in the 2018 midterm elections. This sent a powerful message to the president at the time and the people in Washington D.C.  

In 2019, Trump called the president of Uriakine to try to get dirt on Joe Biden. The call consisted of The president of Uriakine asking to buy weapons from the United States. However, Donald Trump wanted something in return for those weapons, which was information about Joe Biden’s son. This act was outrageous for a President to do. Nancy Pelosi had to act, and she had to act fast. With lots of power, Mrs. Pelosi went for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump. Though the democrats would back her up on impeachment, the Republicans blocked this from happening, keeping Donald Trump as president.

During the state of the union on February 4th, 2020, Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump’s tension were at an all-time high. When Nancy Pelosi put her hand out for President Trump out of respect, Donald Trump did not shake her hand and dismissed her. After he addressed the Nation, Nancy Pelosi ripped his speech up in front of the whole world. 

On January 6th, 2021, many Republican citizens stormed the capital of the United States in response to Donald Trump losing the 2021 election. Trump not only didn’t tell the mob to not go into the capital, but he was also encouraging it as well. These people went into the Capital, where the votes were being counted to make sure that Donald Trump won. During all of this chaos, Nancy Pelosi knew that it was essential to keep counting votes and make sure the nation knew who won, this was an effort to let people know that our democracy is still intact. 

Even though people were ready to hurt Mrs.Pelosi, she took that risk and went to the Senate floor and said “Today a shameful assault was made on our democracy. To those who strove to deter us from our responsibility, you have failed. To those who engaged in the gleeful desiccation of our temple of democracy, justice will be done.” This day was like no other, never has anyone seen this. People’s lives were put in danger and some lost their lives. Many of Trump’s allies and coworkers could no longer have his back after this attack. Nancy Pelosi had enough of Trump. She again was going to impeach Donald J. Trump. Now with support from people from the Republican side, she knew this had to be done. 

On November 17, 2022, Mrs.Pelosi went in front of the house and made an astonishing announcement. She will not be running for reelection in the next midterm election, bringing an end to an incredible era. Alex Rogers, Annie Grayer, and Manu Raju, CNN reporters said this about her announcement, “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that she will relinquish her leadership post after leading House Democrats for two decades, building a legacy as one of the most powerful and polarizing figures in American politics. Pelosi, the first and only woman to serve as speaker, said that she would continue to serve in the House, giving the next generation the opportunity to lead the House Democrats, who will be in the minority next year despite a better-than-expected midterm election performance.”

The role that Nancy Pelosi played in American politics was enormous. She was one of the first and will always be remembered as one of the most powerful women in D.C.