Nancy Pelosi announces retirement from Congress
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi has announced her retirement from Congress after decades in office.
WASHINGTON – Nancy Pelosi’s 40-year career in Washington, D.C., has been filled with groundbreaking and high-profile moments that cemented her legacy as one of the most powerful women in American politics.
The California Democrat announced on November 6th that she would not run again, ending her career as the first woman to serve as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Her career included spearheading the two impeachments of President Donald Trump, ousting President Joe Biden and helping reshape the 2024 presidential election.
A lot can happen in 40 years, and a lot has happened for Pelosi. Here are the best moments of her career that shaped not only domestic politics but America’s standing around the world.
First (and so far only) woman to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives
She broke the marble ceiling.
Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007, the first woman in the country’s nearly 250-year history to hold the position, following the Democratic Party’s landslide victories in the 2006 midterm elections amid growing dissatisfaction with the United States’ war on terror.
These victories solidified the Democratic majority in Congress, secured George W. Bush’s lame-duck presidency, and paved the way for Pelosi’s place in history.
“I accept this gavel in a spirit of partnership, not partisanship,” Pelosi said in her acceptance speech on January 4, 2007. Pelosi told then-House Minority Leader John Boehner that she looked forward to working with both him and the Republican Party “for the benefit of the American people.”
The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the second in line to assume the office of president after the vice president if the president is unable to perform his duties.
She was not only the first woman, but also the first Italian-American speaker and the first Californian to hold the position. This followed several firsts for Pelosi at the Capitol. She is also the first woman to hold both the positions of House Democrat in 2001 and House Democratic Leader in 2002.
Pelosi served as Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011, and was reelected as Speaker in 2019 after retaking the House in the midterm elections during the Trump administration. This is the first time in over 60 years.
obamacare victory
Although it is named after President Barack Obama, Pelosi was the chief architect of Obamacare.
Ms. Pelosi helped author the landmark Affordable Care Act, and passed sweeping health reform legislation on Congress and President Obama’s desk. This law enacted the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 by expanding health insurance coverage through Medicaid and the new health insurance market.
In 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first term, Republicans on Capitol Hill attempted to repeal the law. Pelosi led Democrats in defending the bill, which led to a landslide victory for Democrats and restored the House majority after the 2018 midterm elections.
Applause turned into a meme
After her victory in the 2018 midterm elections, Pelosi returned to the speakership. And one of her first moves in returning to power? A moment that became a hot topic during President Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address.
Pelosi, seated next to Vice President Mike Pence, spread her arms, smiled widely, bowed her head and applauded the president as she called for an end to the “politics of revenge.”
It was the “clapback” that quickly became a viral meme. Pelosi said days later that she was “not being sarcastic” and that the president’s message of acceptance of compromise was a “very welcome” message to Democrats.
The following year, Pelosi made headlines again for ruining President Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address.
Trump’s 2020 speech came after the House of Representatives, led by Pelosi, voted to impeach the president. The day after the speech, the Senate acquitted the president.
Pelosi tore up the text of Trump’s speech while he was still in the building and threw it aside. She then waved the torn pieces in the air.
impeach trump
This is the third time a president has been impeached. Pelosi led the effort, although she was hesitant at first.
In late 2019, the Democratic-led House of Representatives, led by Speaker Pelosi, voted to approve two articles of impeachment against Trump that would require Ukraine to investigate his political rivals as a way to benefit his 2020 re-election campaign.
Pelosi dragged her feet in supporting efforts to impeach Trump, leading to months of Democratic infighting.
After a three-week trial, the Senate voted to acquit Trump and the president continued to serve out the remainder of his term.
January 6th and Trump’s impeachment…again
Pelosi’s career took a dramatic turn with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Months after the riot, Pelosi told USA TODAY that she was certain the mob that attacked her workplace was trying to kill her.
The riots occurred on January 6, 2021, two months after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. After holding a rally in Washington, D.C., at least 2,000 Trump supporters occupied the Capitol while Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence were scheduled to certify the election votes.
Rioters stormed Pelosi’s office, including Richard “Viggo” Barnett, who was convicted after being photographed with his feet up on Pelosi’s desk in her office, and left a derogatory note calling Pelosi a “bitch.”
Pelosi again led the effort in the House just a week after the rioters impeached Trump for inciting an “insurrection.” The Senate acquitted Trump again.
In October 2022, one year after Pelosi tried to impeach President Trump, a man attacked her husband, Paul, in their San Francisco home. The man, David Wayne DePape, was sentenced to life in prison for the hammer attack that left Paul Pelosi bleeding and unconscious. DePap broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home looking for her.
Recovery from the 2008 financial crisis
This relief package will likely avert another Great Depression.
And it likely cost Pelosi her speaking gig as well.
Ms. Pelosi supported President Bush’s rescue plan for the 2008 financial collapse, which triggered the mortgage crisis and threatened both the U.S. and global economies. She helped pass a $700 billion bill that created a federal program to bail out failed banks. The program used $475 billion under the law.
The move caused an uproar among Americans, leaving many in debt and homeless. Pelosi said she believes she lost the speakership as a reaction to the Democratic Party’s crushing defeat in the 2010 midterm elections. It is not unusual for the party that controls the presidency to lose in midterm elections.
Accelerating climate change
Pelosi wanted to tackle the climate crisis.
In 2007 she established the Special Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to draw attention to the causes and effects of climate change. But the commission didn’t last long, ending in 2010 after Republicans won a majority.
Ms. Pelosi also helped pass a landmark bill in the House that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, require 20% of electricity to come from renewable sources, and provide protections for businesses to help them transition to new methods that use less fossil fuels.
Although Pelosi narrowly won the bill in the House of Representatives, it did not pass in the Senate.
But that didn’t stop her from pursuing future legislation to address the growing climate crisis. Pelosi pushed for significant spending on clean energy, clean vehicles and clean manufacturing in the Anti-Inflation Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022.
Pelosi’s support for Tibet
Pelosi represents San Francisco, which has a large Tibetan population, and has long been outspoken about her support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama.
In 2014, Pelosi met with the Dalai Lama along with other members of Congress during a visit to the Capitol. During that visit, he prayed to the Senate to “dispel the misery of the world.”
Pelosi has visited Dharamsala, India, three times, in 2008, 2017, and 2024, and met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. While reaffirming Congress’ support for Tibet, Pelosi has repeatedly criticized the Chinese government’s human rights record toward the Tibetan people.
“His Holiness the Dalai Lama will live a long life with a message of knowledge and tradition and compassion and purity of soul and love, and his legacy will live on forever,” Pelosi said during a visit to Dharamsala in 2024. “But for you, the president of China, you will be gone and no one will recognize your accomplishments.”
Taiwan flashpoint
Tensions with China were rising, but that didn’t stop Pelosi.
In 2022, Pelosi was at the center of the conflict between the United States and China. Pelosi is on a delegation tour of the Indo-Pacific region, with stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. But at the time, she stopped in Taiwan, met with leaders and said Americans stood by the self-governing island.
The Biden administration said at the time that Pelosi’s visit was “fully consistent” with U.S. policy, but National Security Council Strategic Coordinator John Kirby also said at the time that nothing had changed about the U.S.’s “adherence to the one-China policy” and that the U.S. does not support Taiwan’s independence.
The visit comes amid rising tensions between President Joe Biden and China. Months before Pelosi’s visit, Biden said the United States had a military commitment to defend Taiwan.
In response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China conducted live-fire military exercises.
“That’s up to the president.”
President Joe Biden took a firm stance.
He has repeatedly said he intends to remain in the 2024 presidential race, despite growing calls from within his party to resign after a debate with then-Republican candidate Trump was marked by gaffes and long silences.
And then Pelosi enters.
“It’s up to the president to decide whether or not to run,” Pelosi said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on July 10, 2024. “We’re all encouraging the president to make that decision because time is running out.”
When asked about Biden’s intention to remain in the race, Pelosi said, “I hope he does whatever he decides to do.”
Eleven days later, Biden decided to end his campaign.
He continued to support Vice President Kamala Harris as a candidate. With 107 days left until the 2024 presidential election, Harris worked hard to build a campaign, but ultimately lost to Trump.
Pelosi later said in an interview with The New Yorker in August 2024, just weeks after her initial remarks and after Biden left office, that her ultimate goal was to make sure Trump “never set foot in the White House again.”
It was a goal she failed to achieve.
