Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26, 1940) is the House Minority Leader of the 109th Congress of the United States. Since 1987, she has been the Democratic Representative from the 8th district of California, which falls entirely within and includes most of the city and county of San Francisco.
As a result of the Democrats winning control of the House in the 2006 midterm elections, Pelosi is expected to become the next Speaker of the House when Congress reconvenes in January 2007 for the 110th Congress of the United States. Pelosi is the first woman to lead a major political party in either house of Congress, and would be the first woman to serve as Speaker.
Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26, 1940) is the House Minority Leader of the 109th Congress of the United States. Since 1987, she has been the Democratic Representative from the 8th district of California, which falls entirely within and includes most of the city and county of San Francisco.
As a result of the Democrats winning control of the House in the 2006 midterm elections, Pelosi is expected to become the next Speaker of the House when Congress reconvenes in January 2007 for the 110th Congress of the United States. Pelosi is the first woman to lead a major political party in either house of Congress, and would be the first woman to serve as Speaker.
Early life and career
Pelosi was born Nancy D’Alesandro to Italian American parents in Baltimore, Maryland. The youngest of six children, she was involved in politics at an early age. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was a U.S. Congressman from Maryland and a Mayor of Baltimore. Her brother, Thomas L. J. D’Alesandro III, also served as Mayor of Baltimore, from 1967 to 1971.
Pelosi graduated from Baltimore’s Institute of Notre Dame high school and from Trinity College (now Trinity Washington University) in Washington, D.C. in 1962, where she met Paul Pelosi. When the couple married, they moved to his hometown of San Francisco, where his brother was a member of the city’s board of supervisors (San Francisco city and county council).
Once the youngest of their five children became a senior in high school, Nancy Pelosi worked her way up in Democratic politics to become party chairwoman for Northern California, and joined forces with one of the leaders of the California Democratic Party, 5th District Congressman Phillip Burton.
Pelosi is an honorary board member of the National Organization of Italian American Women.
Family
Pelosi has five children: Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul and Alexandra. Alexandra, a journalist, covered the Republican presidential campaigns in 2000 and made a movie about the experience, Journeys with George. She also covered the campaigns in 2004 and wrote a book on it.
The Pelosi family has a net worth of over $25 million, mainly from Paul’s investments. Besides a large portfolio of jointly owned San Francisco Bay Area real estate, he also has millions of dollars worth of shares in publicly traded companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com and AT&T. In 2003, the Pelosi family sold their 8 acre Rutherford vineyard.
Congressional career
When Phillip Burton died in 1983, his wife Sala won a special election to complete his term. When she became ill with cancer, she suggested that Pelosi run for her seat in 1988. Sala Burton died on February 1, 1987, just a month after being sworn in for a second full term. Pelosi won in a special election to succeed her, narrowly defeating left wing San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt, and took office on June 2, 1987. She was elected to a full term in 1988 and has been reelected eight times.
Pelosi represents one of the safest Democratic districts in the country; Democrats have held the seat since 1949. Pelosi has never faced a credible Republican opponent, which is not surprising since Republicans only make up 13 percent of registered voters in the district. Since defeating Britt, she has never really had to campaign, and has never participated in a candidates’ debate.
After the Tiananmen protests of 1989, Pelosi became a supporter of the Chinese democracy movement and a vocal critic of the government of the People’s Republic of China, sponsoring the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992.In the House, she served on the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, and spent much time raising funds for other members. She was the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee for two years.
As of the 2006 mid-term elections, Representative Pelosi appears poised to become the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Democratic Party leadership
In 2001, she was elected the House Minority Whip, second-in-command to Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri, becoming the first woman in U.S. history to reach that position. Since then, she has campaigned for candidates in 30 states and in 90 Congressional districts.
In 2002, after Gephardt resigned as minority leader to seek the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election, Pelosi was elected to replace him, becoming the first woman to lead a major party in the House.
Source: Nancy Pelosi. (2006, November 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:23, November 13, 2006.
