“I would say that one of the things that encouraged me so much when I became elected to the leadership was the letters I received from fathers of daughters, saying that, 'My daughter can now do many more things because of what you did.'”

American politician, born 1940

Nancy Pelosi is an American politician, born in 1940, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987. A Democrat, she is best known for becoming the 52nd speaker of the House and for leading House Democrats over two decades. She represented California's 11th congressional district, which includes most of San Francisco, and her House leadership spanned from 2003 to 2023. She was the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, and her long tenure as a party leader ranks among the longest in House history.