Nancy Patricia D’Alessandro Pelosi (born March 26, 1940) is a politician and the first woman in history to become Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Twice she became the third person in the United States after the president and vice-premier.
In August 2022, hundreds of thousands of people around the world online followed the plane in which Nancy Pelosi was flying. She announced that she was flying to Taiwan, an island that China considers its territory. The United States, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China sent troops and navies to the island. There was a hype: “Will it fly?”, “And if they shoot down?”, “Will the third world war start?”.
Who is this woman who, in her ninth decade of her life, made the world freeze in amazement?
## Biography of Nancy Pelosi
Born in 1940 in a wealthy family of Italian immigrants. Nancy has six siblings, she is the youngest child in the family. My father was the representative of Maryland in the US Congress, and then became the mayor of the city of Baltimore. Nancy’s older brother followed in his father’s footsteps – he was the mayor of Baltimore until 1968.
With such a family history, Nancy was easier to get into politics than other peers. Moreover, she carried away the girl.
In 1958, Nancy graduated from a private Catholic school, and then entered Trinity University in Washington, where she studied political science. There she met her future husband, Paul. He accidentally overheard her discussing the Korean War with a friend and invited her for a beer. Paul and Nancy got married two years later.
Married for six years, Pelosi became the mother of five children, but she never forgot about politics. For many years she worked in non-public administrative positions. And in 1985 she went into public politics. Then she put forward her candidacy for a post in the Democratic Party, but lost the election.
In 1988, she was able to get into the House of Representatives of the US Congress (the Russian counterpart is the State Duma) from the Democrats. The case and connections helped: one congressman died, his wife took the vacant chair, but soon she fell ill with cancer – and “appointed” Pelosi as her successor. That is, she called to vote for her. And Pelosi won.
Since then, Nancy has not ceased to sit in the American Parliament, consistently winning all congressional elections. But her career growth did not stop there: in 2002, Pelosi became the first woman to lead a party in Congress, and in 2007 she won the election for Speaker of the House of Representatives. That is, it became the third person of the state. She worked in this role for 4 years.
Pelosi then served as speaker once more, from January 3, 2019 to January 3, 2023. She left this post at the age of 82, “to give way to the young.”
What is Nancy Pelosi known for as a politician?
As a political heavyweight, Pelosi has been involved in the passage of many bills developed by the Democratic Party. For example, the famous Obamacare – in fact, it was the largest health care reform in the United States in the last half century. Its main point is that citizens are obliged to purchase health insurance.
She advocates for the right of women to have abortions, although she grew up in a religious family. Due to Pelosi’s public statements about abortion, the Archbishop of San Francisco announced that Nancy was no longer allowed to take the sacrament in her homeland.
Under President George W. Bush, Pelosi was a vocal opponent of the Iraq War. She voted against military action and advocated the withdrawal of the army from the country. However, it was she who prevented Bush from being impeached.
She was remembered as a tough opponent of President Donald Trump. In 2020, he spoke in Congress with the annual State of the Union address to senators and members of the House. Pelosi defiantly tore up the pages of the president’s speech, and then said that “it was still polite of her.”
Pelosi speaks frequently about international relations. For example, a politician demands recognition of the Armenian genocide in Turkey, supports Israel in the conflict with Iran, and demonstrates support for the government of Taiwan. Her scandalous visit to the island in August 2022 did not lead to an armed conflict. Despite the peaceful resolution of the situation, China has imposed sanctions against her and her immediate family for interfering in the internal affairs of the country and ignoring warnings at the highest level.
After the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, Pelosi wished Russia to suffer from sanctions. She stated: “Significant military support (of Ukraine), humanitarian and economic assistance, as well as sanctions, sanctions, sanctions that will make Russia suffer is needed.”
Pelosi also advocated that the Russian Federation be declared a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
Facts about Nancy Pelosi
- The Hill called her “the most powerful female politician in the history of the United States.”
- Pelosi is obsessed with chocolate.
- She loves to solve crossword puzzles.
- Can speak in public for a long time. She once gave a speech that lasted over 8 hours. This is the longest speech in the lower house of Congress in history. Nancy started talking in the morning and didn’t finish until 6 pm. The topic of the speech was Trump.
- Pelosi’s husband Paul is often in the news. In the summer of 2022, he got behind the wheel drunk and caused a car accident. In the fall of that year, some conspiracy theorist attacked Paul right outside the Pelosi residence and pierced the old man’s skull with a hammer.
Nancy Pelosi quotes
- “Always viewed politics as an extension of my mothering role.”
- “I really want women to know their strength, appreciate their experience. We realized that there is nothing more useful in the political process than more active participation of women.”
- “I think a lot of the truth has been hidden from the American people.”
- “If I cry, it’s about a personal loss or something like that. But when it comes to politics, no, I don’t cry.”
“Perhaps a woman is needed to clean up the (White) House.”
