Editing Nancy Pelosi (section)

=== 2007 speakership election ===
{{see also|2007 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election}}

[[Image:Bush, Pelosi, and Hoyer meeting at White House, Nov 9, 2006.jpg|thumb|right|President [[George W. Bush]] meets with [[Speaker (politics)|Speaker]]-designate Pelosi and House Minority Whip [[Steny Hoyer]] on November 9, 2006.]]
In the 2006 elections, the Democrats took control of the House, picking up 30 seats,<ref>{{cite news |last=Benenson |first=Bob |date=January 4, 2007 |title=Pelosi Officially Elected Speaker of the U.S. House |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/01/04/cq_2079.html |website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 5, 2019|archive-date=November 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129210217/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/01/04/cq_2079.html |url-status=live}}</ref> the party's largest House seat gain since the [[1974 United States House of Representatives elections|1974 elections]] held in the wake of the [[Watergate Scandal|Watergate scandal]].<ref name="SandalowDetermination"/> The party's House majority meant that as the party's incumbent House leader, Pelosi was widely expected to become speaker in the next Congress.<ref>{{cite news |author=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=November 8, 2006 |title=Pelosi to Make History as First Woman Speaker of the House |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2607555&page=1 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|access-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-date=January 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103140201/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2607555&page=1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Eilperin |first=Juliet |date=November 8, 2006 |title=Nancy Pelosi Set to Be First Female Speaker |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/07/AR2006110701726.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194824/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/07/AR2006110701726.html |url-status=live}}</ref> On November 16, 2006, the Democratic caucus unanimously nominated her for speaker.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hulse |first=Carl |date=November 17, 2006 |title=Pelosi Rebuffed Over Her Choice for Majority Leader |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/us/politics/17cong.html |work=[[The New York Times]]|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-date=July 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717210824/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/us/politics/17cong.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Pelosi supported her longtime friend John Murtha for House majority leader, the second-ranking post in the House. His competitor was House Minority Whip [[Steny Hoyer]], who had been Pelosi's second-in-command since 2003.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hooper |first=Molly |date=November 16, 2006 |title=Hoyer Wins House Majority Leader Race, Giving Pelosi First Setback |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/hoyer-wins-house-majority-leader-race-giving-pelosi-first-setback |website=[[Fox News]]|access-date=November 8, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061119084150/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C229819%2C00.html |archive-date=November 19, 2006 }}</ref> Hoyer was elected House majority leader over Murtha by a margin of 149–86.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news |first1=Thomas |last1=Ferraro |first2=Richard |last2=Cowan |date=November 16, 2006 |title=CORRECTED—Democrats defy Pelosi, elect Hoyer House leader |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2006/11/17/corrected--democrats-defy-pelosi-elect-hoyer-house-leader/ |work=Toronto Star |agency=[[Reuters]]|access-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194647/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2006/11/17/corrected--democrats-defy-pelosi-elect-hoyer-house-leader/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

On January 4, 2007, Pelosi defeated Republican [[John Boehner]] of Ohio, 233 votes to 202, in the election for speaker of the House.<ref>{{cite news |last=Walsh |first=Deirdre |date=January 4, 2007 |title=Pelosi becomes first woman House speaker |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/04/congress.rdp/index.html |website=[[CNN]]|access-date=January 4, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106022356/http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/04/congress.rdp/index.html |archive-date=January 6, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=NowThis News |date=March 29, 2020 |title=Remember When: Nancy Pelosi Became First Woman Speaker of The House {{!}} NowThis |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZmY9MSWKfE |website=[[YouTube]]|access-date=June 24, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nancy Pelosi becomes first female Speaker of the House |url=https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/nancy-pelosi-named-speaker-of-the-house-2004 |website=History|date=December 6, 2018 |access-date=June 24, 2022}}</ref>

[[Rahm Emanuel]], the incoming chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, nominated Pelosi, and her longtime friend [[John Dingell]] swore her in, as the [[dean of the House of Representatives]] traditionally does.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Oath-of-Office/|title=Oath of Office {{!}} US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|website=history.house.gov |access-date=January 22, 2019|archive-date=November 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109100854/https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Oath-of-Office/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/technology/2007/01/04/pelosi-sworn-in-as-first-woman-speaker-of-the-house/32917f2c-c075-4d7a-b404-90e8c9fe7cea/|title=Pelosi Sworn in as First Woman Speaker of the House|date=January 4, 2007|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=January 22, 2019|issn=0190-8286|url-status=live|archive-date=January 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122145116/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/technology/2007/01/04/pelosi-sworn-in-as-first-woman-speaker-of-the-house/32917f2c-c075-4d7a-b404-90e8c9fe7cea/}}</ref>

[[File:2007 State of the Union Address – George W. Bush Library.webm|thumb|upright=1.35|start=00:16|thumbtime=00:35|Pelosi (right) with Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] behind President George W. Bush at the [[2007 State of the Union Address]]. Pelosi became the first woman to sit behind the podium at such an address. Bush acknowledged this by beginning his speech with the words, "Tonight, I have the high privilege and distinct honor of my own as the first president to begin the State of the Union message with these words: ''Madam Speaker''."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070123-2.html |title=President Bush Delivers State of the Union Address |access-date=August 26, 2007 |last=Bush |first=George W. |author-link=George W. Bush |date=January 23, 2007 |website=[[The White House]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502232627/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070123-2.html |archive-date=May 2, 2013}}</ref>]]

Pelosi was the first woman, the first Californian, and the first Italian-American to hold the speakership. She was also the second speaker from a state west of the [[Rocky Mountains]]. The first was [[Washington (state)|Washington]]'s [[Tom Foley]], the last Democrat to hold the post before Pelosi.

During her speech, she discussed the historical importance of being the first woman to hold the position of Speaker:

{{blockquote|text=This is a historic moment—for the Congress, and for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and granddaughters, today, we have broken the [[Glass ceiling|marble ceiling]]. For our daughters and our granddaughters, the sky is the limit, anything is possible for them.<ref name=110speech>{{cite news |date=January 4, 2007 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Text-of-Nancy-Pelosi-s-speech-2625996.php |title=Text of Nancy Pelosi's speech |access-date=January 19, 2019 |archive-date=September 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930151701/https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Text-of-Nancy-Pelosi-s-speech-2625996.php |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

She also said Iraq was the major issue facing the [[110th United States Congress|110th Congress]] while incorporating some Democratic Party beliefs:

{{blockquote|text=The election of 2006 was a call to change—not merely to change the control of Congress, but for a new direction for our country. Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in Iraq. The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end.<ref name=110speech/>}}

As speaker, Pelosi remained the leader of the House Democrats, as the speaker is considered the leader of the majority caucus. But by tradition, she did not normally participate in debate and almost never voted on the floor, though she had the right to do so as a member of the House. She was also not a member of any House committees, also in keeping with tradition.

Pelosi was reelected speaker in 2009.