Portal:California/Selected biography/19

Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26, 1940) is currently the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Before becoming Speaker in the 110th Congress, she was the House Minority Leader from 2002 to 2007, holding the post during the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses. Since 1987, she has represented the 8th Congressional District of California, which consists of four-fifths of the City and County of San Francisco. The district was numbered as the 5th during Pelosi's first three terms in the House.

With her election as Speaker, she is the first woman, the first Californian, and the first Italian-American to hold the Speakership. She is the second Speaker from a state west of the Rocky Mountains, with the first being Washington's Tom Foley, who was the last Democrat to hold the post before Pelosi. As Speaker of the House, Pelosi ranks second in the line of presidential succession, following Vice President Dick Cheney. Therefore, she is the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. Government.