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This has been a dismal session for the House of Representatives but these next 75 days will be the final ones for one of the most significant members ever to serve in the chamber.
Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi is retiring after 39 years, two decades as leader of the Democrats, eight as Speaker of the House. I used to cover Congress -- reporting on another great Speaker Tip O’Neill -- became a House-o-phile, read about its history and was tutored by an inside scholar, the late Congressman Richard Bolling.
Of the more than 11,000 Americans to serve in the House since 1789, she is one of the half dozen most important, one of the greatest of all times. The super six include James Madison, Henry Clay, Thomas Brackett Reed, Joe Cannon, Sam Rayburn and Pelosi.
The first woman speaker was a force, a case study in leadership and the exercise of power. The Affordable Care Act health care bill, often called Obamacare could be Pelosicare. Without her skillful tenacity it never would have become law.
She shepherded through the sweeping Biden agenda in his Administration’s first two years with almost no Republican support. Biden didn’t have anywhere near the clout over members in contrast to the total control Trump has had over congressional Republicans. The heavy lifting was up to the Speaker.
She was as proficient on defense, especially during the final two years of the first Trump presidency. She consistently stood up to him, batted down his bullying and was usually victorious. The image remembered was her tearing up his speech after the 2020 State of the Union. Overlooked is that this was after Trump refused to shake hands with her.
Pelosi is smart and charming. What made her great were other qualities: toughness and instincts. A few left wing Democrats arrived in the House in 2019 intent to take on the Speaker. She marginalized them.
Powerful men, as Trump should have learned, take her on at their own peril. At an Aspen Ideas conference last month she tore into Ken Griffin, the Hedge Fund billionaire and huge Republican donor, for the massive debt, especially a tax cut favoring the wealthy, that Trump has run up. As usual she had all the facts and figures.
Republicans paint her as an ideological left winger, the infamous San Francisco liberal. She actually is a results centered, progressive pragmatist. At the start of her leadership rise a quarter century ago, her campaign manager was Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, a working class moderate/conservative Democrat.
Her instincts are unsurpassed. She knew her caucus, what would fly and what wouldn’t. She was a vote counter extraordinaire.
Also, she’s a prolific fundraiser with a personal touch. One wealthy donor told me she never asked without inquiring about his family, what his children were up to.
The daughter and sister of Baltimore mayors, she is a consummate politician versed in the politics of congressional districts. She asked me last month about a couple House challengers I was covering; she knew more about the contests than I did.
A ferocious Democrat, she was respected by prominent rivals. She and George W. Bush developed a good relationship post his presidency. Former House GOP Speaker Paul Ryan cited her “historic” Speakership. At a ceremony former GOP Speaker John Boehner not only emotionally praised her but said how much his daughters admired her.
She had little use for another Republican Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, whose word was unreliable, a political sin in Pelosi’s book. I’m pretty sure she considers Mike Johnson a lightweight.
The California Democrat has been a player in presidential politics too. In 2008 she moved the needle for Barack Obama in the primary. In 2024 she was a prime mover in getting President Biden to bow out.
My only tinge of regret is that she and Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, once rivals and then allies in the House leadership, are about the same age. Hoyer, who also is retiring, would have been a different but a good Speaker.
Expect to see her campaign in the final weeks to help close colleagues like California Rep. Doris Matsui.
One of her parting gifts was to bow out when at the peak of her game, though at 86 she is as sharp as ever.
The likely next Speaker, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, will benefit from four years first as minority leader as Pelosi did. Succeeding a legend is never easy. I suspect he’s ready.
As for Nancy Pelosi, we’ll never see her like again.