Nancy Pelosi was first elected into the House of Representatives in 1987 under President Ronald Reagan as one of few democrats in congress at that time. She served in California’s eighth district until 2002, when she was made the minority party leader of the House of Representatives. She was the first woman to hold this position.

Later, under Bill Clinton, Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House. Again, she was the first woman to serve this role. She held this position from 2007 to 2011. Speaker of the House is an important role in helping push new legislation through congress. She was also second in line for the presidency, should that day come. She was reelected in 2009, but was replaced by  John Boehner, her republican counterpart in 2011 when the house majority flipped.

According to TheConversation.com, “speakers (of the house) articulate an agenda and explain legislative action to other Washington officials as well as the public.”

As of January 2019, Pelosi has been reelected into this position. She was voted in by 51.16% of House Representatives. She has spoken about ending the government shutdown and making it a priority.

LHS Senior, Isabella Bryson, is happy to see Pelosi in charge again. “I think she’s a wonderful person for this role- she has experience and the personality to succeed. It’s nice having a woman back in charge.”

Pelosi has expressed her moderate liberal views. She has proposed gun reform legislation and funding to prevent the California wildfires. She is the pro-choice, feminist, democrat that we need to run our legislative branch.