https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi
Speaker of the House
Nomination
In the 2006 Midterm Elections, the Democrats took control of the House by picking up 31 seats. On November 16, 2006, Pelosi was unanimously chosen by her caucus as the Democratic candidate for Speaker, effectively making her Speaker-elect. While the Speaker is elected by the full House membership, in modern practice the election is a formality, since the Speaker always comes from the majority party.
Pelosi supported her longtime friend John Murtha of Pennsylvania for the position of House Majority Leader, the second-ranking post in the House Democratic caucus. His competitor was House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who had been Pelosi's second-in-command since 2003.[20] Pelosi and Hoyer had a somewhat frosty relationship dating back to 2001, when they ran against each other for minority whip. However, Hoyer was elected as House Majority Leader over Murtha by a margin of 149–86 within the caucus.[21]
On January 3, Pelosi defeated Republican John Boehner of Ohio with 233 votes compared to his 202 votes in the election for Speaker of the House.[22] She was nominated by Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the incoming chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and sworn in by her longtime friend John Dingell of Michigan as the Dean of the House of Representatives traditionally does.
Pelosi (right) with Vice President Dick Cheney behind President George W. Bush at the 2007 State of the Union Address making history as the first woman to sit behind the podium at such an address. President Bush acknowledged this by beginning his speech with the words, "Tonight, I have a high privilege and distinct honor of my own*– as the first President to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker".[23]
With her election, Pelosi became the first woman, the first Californian, and the first Italian-American to hold the Speakership. She is also the second Speaker from a state west of the Rocky Mountains. The first was Washington's Tom Foley, the last Democrat to hold the post before Pelosi.
During her speech, she discussed the historical importance of being the first female to hold the position of Speaker:
"This is a historic moment*– for the Congress, and for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and granddaughters, today, we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters, the sky is the limit, anything is possible for them".[24]
She also spoke on Iraq as the major issue facing the 110th Congress, while incorporating some Democratic Party beliefs:
"The election of 2006 was a call to change*– not merely to change the control of Congress, but for a new direction for our country. Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in Iraq. The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end."[24]
Tenure
As Speaker, Pelosi was still the leader of the House Democrats; the Speaker is considered to be the leader of his or her House caucus. However, by tradition, she did not normally participate in debate and almost never voted on the floor (though she had every right to as a full House member). She was also not a member of any House committees.
Pelosi was re-elected Speaker in 2009.
A CBS News poll conducted in March 2010 found that 37% of registered voters have an unfavorable opinion of the speaker, with 11% approving.[25] According to a March 2010 Rasmussen poll, 64% of voters nationally view the speaker unfavorably, and 29% have a favorable opinion of Pelosi.[26]
On November 17, 2016, U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (politician) of Ohio's 13th congressional district announced he will seek the bid for Minority Speaker, stating "Over the last 18 years, Democrats have only been in the majority of the House of Representatives for two terms, and last week’s election results set us back even further", "We have lost over 60 seats since 2010. We have the fewest Democrats in state and federal offices since Reconstruction. At this time of fear and disillusionment, we owe it to our constituencies to listen and bring a new voice into leadership." [27]
Social Security Mandate
Shortly after winning re-election, President George W. Bush claimed a mandate for an ambitious second-term agenda and proposed reforming Social Security by allowing workers to redirect a portion of their Social Security withholding into stock and bond investments.[28] Pelosi strongly opposed the plan, saying there was no crisis, and as minority leader she imposed intense party discipline on her caucus, leading them to near-unanimous opposition to Bush's proposal, and subsequent defeat of the proposed plan.[29][30]
Blocking of impeachment proceedings against President Bush
In the wake of President George W. Bush's reelection in 2004, several leading House Democrats believed that Democrats should pursue impeachment proceedings against the president. They asserted that Bush had misled Congress about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and had violated the civil liberties of Americans by authorizing wiretaps without a warrant.
In May 2006, with an eye on the upcoming congressional elections–which offered the possibility of Democrats taking back control of the House for the first time since 1994–Pelosi told colleagues that, while the Democrats would conduct vigorous oversight of Bush administration policy, an impeachment investigation was "off the table". (A week earlier, she had told the Washington Post that, although Democrats would not set out to impeach the president, "you never know where" investigations might lead.)[31]
After becoming Speaker of the House in January 2007, Pelosi held firm against impeachment, notwithstanding strong support for that course of action among constituents in her home district. In the November 2008 election, Pelosi withstood a challenge for her seat by anti-war activist Cindy Shee
