Pelosi led House Democrats for almost two decades, encompassing two stretches as speaker under four presidents. She announced her retirement in a video posted on social media Thursday morning.
“We have made history. We have made progress,” she said in the video. “And now, we must continue to do so by remaining full participants in our democracy and fighting for the American ideals we hold dear.”
Watch: Nancy Pelosi to Retire at the End of Her Term Source: Bloomberg
Her departure leaves a vacancy in a solidly Democratic San Francisco-based seat for the first time in nearly 40 years. More broadly, Pelosi’s retirement creates a hole in national Democratic leadership, underscoring questions about the future of a party that has struggled to find a winning message in the era of President
A fierce legislative tactician and prolific fundraiser, she was instrumental in securing signature policy achievements for Democratic presidents
Several candidates had emerged to campaign for her seat before she announced her departure, including state Senator
Among her biggest accomplishments as party leader was helping to enact Obama’s Affordable Care Act. She was also instrumental in passing the Dodd-Frank Act to put more guardrails on Wall Street after the 2008 financial crisis, as well as the economic stimulus package to help banks and others recover from the ensuing recession.
“No one was more skilled at bringing people together and getting legislation passed,” Obama said in a statement posted on social media after her announcement.
Pelosi managed her fractious caucus to pass large parts of Biden’s economic agenda, including a bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, which created new renewable energy incentives and lowered prescription drug prices.
Some of her most memorable moments emerged from spars with Trump. She oversaw two impeachments during his first term, and also grabbed headlines after ripping up a copy of the president’s
In a 2018 Oval Office meeting after Democrats won control of the House, she chided him “not to characterize the strength that I bring to this meeting.” Video of her striding out of the White House afterward in dark sunglasses and an orange overcoat quickly became a social media meme.
Trump told reporters at the White House he was happy to see her go.
“I think she’s an evil woman. I’m glad she’s retiring,” Trump said. “I thought she was terrible.”
Her friction with the White House hasn’t been limited to Republicans. She demonstrated one of her most remarkable flexes of intra-party power after splitting with Biden, saying he should drop out of 2024 race. Her snub helped kick-start a pressure campaign which led to him stepping aside, prompting former Vice President
Biden in a social media post called her “the best Speaker of the House in American history,” citing her role in enacting key parts of his agenda.
Pelosi’s retirement comes as Democrats grapple with the future of the party. New York City’s Democratic mayor-elect
The former speaker has kept some distance from some of the party’s emerging progressive wing. She has publicly disagreed with one of Democrats’ most well-known progressive members, Representative
As one of the oldest members in the House, Pelosi faced increasing pressure from colleagues to retire in recent years to make room a new generation.
The consequences of an increasingly hostile and divided political environment have struck Pelosi directly, as she has been routinely targeted by threats. Capitol police hustled her out of the House chamber ahead of an invading mob during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, with some chanting “Where’s Nancy” and ransacking her office.
In 2022, a hammer-wielding assailant broke into Pelosi’s San Francisco home and fractured the skull of her husband,
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Weeks later, after an election in which Democrats lost control of the House and under pressure to allow a new generation in the party to rise, Pelosi announced she wouldn’t seek another term in party leadership.
Pelosi’s political career goes back to the Democratic Party’s past of big-city working-class machines. She learned politics from her father, long-time Baltimore Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro Jr.
She entered through the liberal bastion of San Francisco, where she first ran for office at the age of 47 after raising five children with her husband, a real estate and venture capital investor.
(Updates with Trump, Biden and Obama comments beginning in eighth paragraph.)
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