By: History.com Editors

2007

Nancy Pelosi becomes first female Speaker of the House

History.com Editors

Published: December 06, 2018

Last Updated: February 18, 2025

On January 4, 2007, John Boehner handed the speaker of the House gavel over to Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic Representative from California. With the passing of the gavel, she became the first woman to hold the Speaker of the House position, as well as the only woman to get that close the presidency. After the Vice President, she was now second in line via the presidential order of succession. Pelosi became Speaker again in 2018.

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“It is an historic moment for the Congress, and a historic moment for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited over 200 years,” Pelosi said after receiving the gavel. “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.”

Pelosi’s Congressional career began 20 years before, when she was one of only 25 women who served in both the House and the Senate. She became the Democratic whip in 2001 and served as the minority leader between 2003 and her election as speaker in 2007. In 2002, she was one of the House members to vote against President George W. Bush’s request to use military force in Iraq.

During her first two terms as Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011, she developed a reputation as a tireless fundraiser and a successful securer of votes within her caucus. Her terms as speaker also coincided with Barack Obama’s first presidential term, and Pelosi was instrumental on organizing House votes for the Affordable Care Act.

During the 2010 midterms, the National Republican Congressional Committee cited her in 70 percent of its ads. The Democrats lost their House majority that election and Pelosi returned to her position as minority leader. After Democrats reclaimed the House in the 2018 midterms, she received her party’s nomination to be its official candidate for Speaker of the House. In 2019 and again in 2021, as Speaker, Pelosi oversaw the first and second impeachments of President Donald Trump. Pelosi announced she was stepping down from the leadership position in 2022, though she would remain in the House to represent her California district.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on January 4th

1809

Louis Braille is born

On January 4, 1809, Louis Braille is born in Coupvray, France. He would go on to develop the writing system for visually impaired readers that bears his name: braille.

1847

Samuel Colt sells his first revolvers to the U.S. government

On January 4, 1847, Samuel Colt rescues the future of his faltering gun company by winning a contract to provide the U.S. government with 1,000 of his .44 caliber revolvers.

1870

John Wesley Hardin kills over a card game

Angered over a card game dispute, 16-year-old John Wesley Hardin shoots Benjamin Bradley dead in the street, likely on January 4, 1870.

1896

Utah enters the Union

Six years after Wilford Woodruff, president of the Mormon church, issued his Manifesto reforming political, religious, and economic life in Utah, the territory is admitted into the Union as the 45th state.

1913

German military strategist Alfred von Schlieffen dies

German Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen, mastermind of an aggressive German military strategy that will soon be used, in modified form, at the start of the Great War, dies on this day in 1913 in Berlin.

German General Alfred Schlieffen, author of the Schlieffen Plan for the defeat of Russian and France. (Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

1964

Boston Strangler commits his final known murder

Mary Sullivan is raped and strangled to death in her Boston apartment. The killer left a card reading “Happy New Year” leaning against her foot. Sullivan would turn out to be the last woman killed by the notorious Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo, who had terrorized the city between 1962 and 1964, raping and killing 13 women.

1965

L.B.J. envisions a Great Society in his State of the Union address

On January 4, 1965, in his State of the Union address, President Lyndon Baines Johnson lays out for Congress a laundry list of legislation needed to achieve his plan for a Great Society. On the heels of John F. Kennedy’s tragic death, Americans had elected Johnson, his vice president, to the presidency by the largest popular vote in the nation’s history. Johnson used this mandate to push for improvements he believed would better Americans’ quality of life.

Lyndon Johnson Delivering His State of the Union Message

1965

Patsy T. Mink sworn in as first Asian American woman and woman of color in Congress

Elected in 1964, Patsy T. Mink is sworn in on January 4, 1965, as the first Asian American woman and first woman of color to serve in the U.S. Congress.

This Day In History: Patsy T. Mink sworn in as first Asian American woman and woman of color in Congress, January 4, 1965

1990

Trains collide in Pakistan

Two trains collide in Sangi, Pakistan, on January 4, 1990, killing between 200 and 300 people and injuring an estimated 700 others. This was the worst rail accident to date in Pakistan.

1995

Republican Party takes control of Congress for first time in 40 years

The 104th Congress begins, becoming the first held entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era. The previous November, Newt Gingrich and his “Contract with America” gave the Republican Party the electoral boost it needed to win majority control of Congress for the first time in 40 years.

1996

GM announces its electric car

On January 4, 1996, General Motors announces at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show it will build an electric car, dubbed the EV1, to be launched in the fall of that year.

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Citation Information

Article title
Nancy Pelosi becomes first female Speaker of the House
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 22, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
February 18, 2025
Original Published Date
December 06, 2018

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