Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Before becoming Speaker in the 110th Congress, she was the House Minority Leader from 2002-2007.
From 1987-present, 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 the 5th during Nancy Pelosi's first three terms in the House.
With her election as Speaker of the House, she is the first woman, the first Californian, and the first Italian-American to hold the position.
Nancy Pelosi is the second Speaker from 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.
Nancy Pelosi is therefore the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. Government.
As Speaker of the House, Pelosi is still the leader of the House Democrats. However, by tradition, she does not normally participate in debate, and almost never votes on the floor. She is not a member of House committees.
Since being elected Speaker, the approval rating of the divided Congress has dropped to a historic low of less than 20 percent due primarily to public frustration over Congress' inability to affect Bush's Iraq war policy.
Nancy Pelosi has also come under fire from Democratic activists for not being aggressive enough in confronting George W. Bush.
NATIONAL[NOTE: Figures above are averages of the 3-6 most recent surveys in each area. Updated June 17]
