Accomplishments of Nancy Pelosi, the First Female Speaker of the House of Representatives

Nancy Pelosi is a Maryland-born politician from the Democratic Party. She first made her big splash in politics by winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representative in 1987. Since then, Pelosi has represented the 5th, 8th and 12th districts in the state of California. Between 2007 and 2011, she became the first woman in the history of the United States to be elected House Speaker. Then in 2019, after her Democratic Party took control of the House in the 2018 elections, Nancy Pelosi was reelected House Speaker for the second time.

Fast Facts about Nancy Pelosi

Born: Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro

Date and Place of Birth: March 26, 1940; Maryland, U.S.

Parents: Thomas D’Alesandro Jr. and Nancy Lombardi

Siblings:  7, including Thomas D’Alesandro III (43rd Mayor of Baltimore, from 1967-1971)

Education: Trinity Washington University

Spouse: Paul Pelosi (since 1963)

Children: 5

Political Party: Democratic Party

Elected office: U.S. House of Representatives – California – 5th district (1987-1993); 8th district (1993- 2013); 12th district (2013-2023)

Positions held: House Minority Whip (2002- 2003); Head of the House Democratic Caucus (2003- ); Speaker of the House (2007- 2011); House Minority Leader (2011- 2019); Speaker of the House (2019- 2023).

Most known for: Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; and Leading the House impeachment hearings against President Donald J. Trump in 2019

Other Exemplary Feats: First woman to become Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives;  Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare, 2010); Dodd-Frank Act (2010); and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act (2010)

Major Accomplishments of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

In this article, worldhistoryedu.com presents a great deal of information about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as her major accomplishments and legislative legacy.

She played a big role in creating an independent Ethics Panel

After Democrats took control of the House in the 2006 elections, Nancy Pelosi’s first order of business in the 110th Congress was to set up an external panel to deal with ethics charges. She prioritized the reforms that introduced civility on Capitol Hill.

Opposed the Iraq War

Ever since the U.S. sent troops into Iraq, Nancy Pelosi had always been a big critic of the manner in which then-president George W. Bush handled the situation. She voted against the Iraq Resolution in 2002. Eventually, the resolution got passed anyway.

In 2007, when President Bush wanted to increase troops in Iraq, Nancy Pelosi strongly advised against it. She favored a political solution instead of a military solution in Iraq.

She helped pass the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007

Prior to 2007, America had not increased the minimum wage for a staggering 10 years. As House Speaker of the 110^th Congress, Nancy Pelosi made sure that American workers were well compensated for their labor.

Achievements in gas mileage standards

In her first term as speaker of the House, Pelosi rallied fellow Representatives to see to it that car manufacturing companies increased gas mileage standards for the automobiles that they produced. This move was welcomed by a lot of green energy and climate activists in the nation.

Steadfastly supported the Affordable Care Act

Passed in 2010 (wining by 219 versus 212 votes), Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act came under immense criticism from House Republicans. However, Pelosi held her grounds and united the House Democrats. In the end, the Act got passed. The act, however, has gone through a total of 12 repeal attempts from the Republicans.

When the health-care bill was being prepared, Pelosi played a significant role. To see it passed, she brought her party together. ObamaCare, as it was popularly called, protects all Americans with pre-existing medical conditions. In effect, it added tens of millions of Americans to nation’s health care coverage.

A campaigner for renewable energy

In the past decade or so, Nancy Pelosi has been one of the most vocal advocates for green energy in the United States. She has played a big part in helping producers of green energy secure tax credits.

In 2009, Nancy Pelosi tried to get the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA) passed. The Act would have created more clean energy firms and jobs. Many climate change experts in the country welcomed the move to make the U.S. a clean energy nation. However, the Act did not see the light of the day – it was defeated in the Senate.

Two years prior to the ACESA, Pelosi was heavily involved in getting automobile manufacturers to increase vehicle fuel efficiency. The U.S. had not seen such increment in over 32 years.

Read More:

• 9 Major Accomplishments of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States
• John F. Kennedy: 8 Most Important Achievements

Passed Economic Recovery Acts during the Global Financial Crisis

Pelosi was vital in getting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – ARRA 2009 – passed. Close to a trillion dollars worth of bail out packages were made available to banks and other businesses in key sectors of the economy. By so doing, Pelosi was praised for her timely effort in arresting the financial crisis of 2008. Had those measures not been taken, our nation risked losing several tens of millions of jobs.

Here are a few honorable mentions and legislations signed into law under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

• She was vocal against attempts by President George W. Bush to make Social Security private.
• During her speakership, several Wall Street reforms were passed in order to ensure that a repeat of the 2007/2008 Global Financial crisis never happened. For example, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act) was designed to ensure that the banking and financial industries had ample regulations to halt banks and their executives from running rogue.
• In 2009, she helped pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 which compelled employers to pay women equal pay for equal work.
• Pelosi helped increase opioid epidemic funding in her first tenure as Speaker of the House.
• As speaker, she made sure that budget allocations for U.S. veterans saw the increase that it so dearly needed.
• In 2010, she helped repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Act in the military. This was a huge boost to the works of LGBTQ movements in the nation. The repeal effectively took away the close to two decades ban on LGBTQ personnel serving openly in the military.
• Nancy Pelosi also championed the DISCLOSE Act, which prevents corporations from influencing the U.S. elections. The Act was designed to inject greater transparency and disclosure.
• During the tenure of the 111th Congress, college students receiving college aid welcomed the news of reforms in the industry. Owing to those reforms rolled out by Nancy Pelosi, it was estimated that several billions of dollars would be saved as Pell Grants for college students were increased.