http://www.nndb.com/people/231/000030141/

Nancy Pelosi
AKA Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro

Born: 26-Mar-1940
Birthplace: Baltimore, MD


Gender: Female
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Politician
Party Affiliation: Democratic

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi is a Democratic Congresswoman from California, and the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House. She comes from a family steeped in politics. At age 7, she stood beside her father when he was sworn in as Baltimore's first Italian-American Mayor in 1947. Democratic to the bone, the D'Alesandro family never moved out of the city's working-class Little Italy neighborhood. Pelosi's mother had dropped out of law school to marry, but she became a leader at the local Democratic Women's Club. Pelosi's brother, Tommy D'Alesandro III, followed in their father's footsteps and was Mayor of Baltimore from 1967-71.

Pelosi says that she once dreamed of becoming a priest -- never a nun -- because it was obvious to her the priests had the power in the church. Her parents sent her to a Catholic, all-girls high school, then to an all-women's college. She married her first serious boyfriend, rising businessman Paul Pelosi, and moved with him to New York, where he became prosperous and she became the mother of five in just six years.

In 1969 they moved to San Francisco, where she volunteered for Democratic causes and worked in the campaigns of California Congressman Phillip Burton. By the mid-1970s she was a prominent voice in local politics, and in 1981 she was elected to chair of the state's Democratic Party. Burton died in 1983 and was replaced in Congress by his wife, and when Sala Burton was diagnosed with cancer she asked Pelosi to take her seat. When she died in 1987, Pelosi won a special election, and she has represented San Francisco in Congress ever since.

Pelosi is a supporter of equal rights for gays and lesbians and a woman's right to choose (abortion). She has worked to increase funding for AIDS research, education, and environmental protection, and tried to block communist China from receiving "most favored nation" trading status. She favored background checks for people purchasing handguns, and lengthened prison sentences when guns are used to commit crimes. Her largest financial supporters have been the United Auto Workers and the Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery.

Pelosi sports some non-liberal views as well. She voted for the PATRIOT Act, for NAFTA and CAFTA, and in favor of the proposed 700-mile wall along the Mexican border. She was briefly skeptical of President George W. Bush's saber-rattling against Iraq, but when the threats came to war in 2003, she voted for a House resolution offering "unequivocal support and appreciation to the president... for his firm leadership and decisive action." As a longtime member of the House Intelligence Committee, she was briefed on Bush's secret warrantless wiretapping of US citizens at least six months before the story broke in the newspapers, and voiced no objections.

Like most members of Congress, Pelosi is a multi-millionaire. Mostly on the strength of her husband's portfolio of commercial real estate, the Pelosis' net worth is at least $25M and may be as high at $92M -- financial disclosure forms for federal officials report assets and liabilities in broad ranges, so the figure is difficult to pinpoint. The Pelosis own a small office building in San Francisco and another in the suburbs of Marin County, as well as millions of dollars in stock in Microsoft and AT&T, and a minority interest in Piatti Locali, a small chain of Italian restaurants in California.

Father: Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. (Mayor of Baltimore 1947-59, b. 1-Aug-1903, d. 23-Aug-1987)
Mother: Annunciata D'Alesandro ("Nancy", d. 3-Apr-1995)
Brother: Thomas J. D'Alesandro III (Mayor of Baltimore 1967-71, b. 24-Jul-1929)
Brother: Franklin Delano Roosevelt D'Alesandro ( "Roosie", b. circa 1934, d. 20-Feb-2007)
Brother: Hector D'Alesandro (d.)
Brother: Nicholas D'Alesandro
Brother: Joseph D'Alesandro (d.)
Husband: Paul F. Pelosi (businessman, m. 1963, four daughters, one son)
Daughter: Nancy Corinne Pelosi (hotel executive)
Daughter: Christine Pelosi (former chief of staff for Rep John Tierney)
Daughter: Jacqueline Pelosi Kenneally (runs an art school for children)
Son: Paul Pelosi Jr. (President of San Francisco's Commission on the Environment)
Daughter: Alexandra Pelosi (documentary filmmaker)


High School: Institute of Notre Dame, Baltimore, MD
University: BA, Trinity Washington University (1962)


US Congressman, California 8th (1993-)
US Congressman, California 5th (1987-93)
Speaker of the US House (2006-)
Close Up Foundation Board of Advisors
Kennedy Center ex-officio member
National Student Leadership Conference Honorary Board of Advisors
Women's Campaign Forum
Italian Ancestry


Official Website:
http://www.house.gov/pelosi

Nancy who ?

I don't remember any vital and important things she's done, like impeaching Cheney and the chimp and restoring Democracy. Is she in politics ?

I knew a Catholic barmaid called Nancy, once. She would have been more effective than this one.

Made a great Bloody Mary, too....

i don't know, rous, I'd consider that voting for the war, the patriot act, and keeping her mouth shut in regard to wiretapping (probably due to that AT&T stock) as pretty vital and important. Positive no, imprtant, assuredly.

Though having this woman as speaker of the house is vastly better than having a Republican speaker,
clearly Pelosi is no progressive.

Pelosi is as much a member of the conservative money democrats as anyone ever have been.
This Neo-Liberal must be replaced by a Progressive.
I think a massive net roots campaign to help Sheehan defeat her in 2010 is in order, and I do hope one of the more stable big boy bloggers step up to the idea.

we've got a few miutes to make some noise, and I doubt if those who understand rant in earnest, it could be ignored - she got a grace period because she ran on an anti war policy, but i know that my people in SF are incredibly unhappy with her, and there not the type of people who take pandering idiots lightly. I'd be amazed if she was able to get past 2k8, much less 2010.

Again, Nancy is a seasoned politician. It's not as if she doesn't know full well what's going on.
Hell, she isn't young and she may well have already decided to retire. If not, you can bet a paycheck Pelosi is well equiped to handle an election battle. That's why any other candidate will absolutely need huge nationwide support.

True, but she's done a damn good job of rallying opposition. and as i said, san franciscans are REALLY REALLY PISSED OFF. they don't take being lied to lightly. they may be progressive, peace loving hippies in ideology, but they're savvy, cutthroat, and nasty when they're wronged.