'Homemaker to House speaker': Nancy Pelosi, dominant figure for the ages, leaves lasting imprint
There are two searing scenes of Nancy Pelosi confronting the violent extremism that spilled into the open late in her storied political career. In one, she's uncharacteristically shaken in a TV interview as she recounts the brutal attack on her husband.
In the other, the House speaker rips open a package of beef jerky with her teeth during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, while on the phone with Mike Pence, instructing the Republican vice president how to stay safe from the mob that came for them both. "Don바카라 게임 웹사이트t let anybody know where you are,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said.
That Pelosi, composed and in command at a time of chaos, tart but proper at every turn, is the one whom lawmakers have obeyed, tangled with, respected and feared for two decades.
She is the most powerful woman in American politics and one of the most consequential legislative leaders. Now, at 82, in the face of political loss and personal trauma, she is closing her era.
Pelosi announced Thursday she would not seek a Democratic leadership position in the Congress that convenes in January, when Republicans take control. Pelosi will remain in Congress.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Never would I have thought that I would go from homemaker to House speaker,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she allowed. On her future, she told reporters: "I like to dance, I like to sing. There바카라 게임 웹사이트s a life out there, right?바카라 게임 웹사이트
Polarizing and combative, Pelosi nevertheless forged compromises with Republicans on historic legislation, on health care, roads, student debt relief, climate change and more.
Even former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, a self-described 바카라 게임 웹사이트partisan conservative who thinks that most of her positions are insane,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Pelosi had a 바카라 게임 웹사이트remarkable바카라 게임 웹사이트 run.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Totally dominant,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Gingrich said of her. 바카라 게임 웹사이트She바카라 게임 웹사이트s clearly one of the strongest speakers in history. She has shown enormous perseverance and discipline."
Bono, who worked with Pelosi over the years on combating AIDS, said in a statement to the AP after a performance Thursday night in Scotland: 바카라 게임 웹사이트When the story of the end of AIDS is written, Nancy Pelosi바카라 게임 웹사이트s name will stand out in boldface.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트I am honored to have learned so much from her grit and grace, and to call her a friend,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he added.
Many fellow Democrats, at one point or another, earned her look of icy disapproval, not just the other side.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Politics is tough,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said in 2015, 바카라 게임 웹사이트but intraparty? Oh, brother.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Pelosi prevailed 바카라 게임 웹사이트 for nearly 20 years as House Democratic leader including nearly eight as speaker in two stints 바카라 게임 웹사이트 with hard-nosed sentiments like these:
바카라 게임 웹사이트Whoever votes against the speaker will pay a price.바카라 게임 웹사이트 바카라 게임 웹사이트 to Democrats who resisted her push for a select committee on climate change early in her speakership.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Nobody바카라 게임 웹사이트s walking out of here saying anything, if they want to keep an intact neck.바카라 게임 웹사이트 바카라 게임 웹사이트 to negotiators trying to work out a 2007 House-Senate compromise to restrain pork, according to the notes of John A. Lawrence, her then-chief of staff and author of a new insider book on her speakership, 바카라 게임 웹사이트Arc of Power."
Sometimes, she could snap her lawmakers into line without a word.
A flick of her hand silenced Democrats who cheered when the House first passed articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, for Pelosi was a stickler for decorum. But not always.
She ripped her copy of Trump's 2020 State of the Union speech, on the dais behind him, on camera. The theatrical protest raised questions about whether Pelosi, in that moment, had become what she despised in Trump.
바카라 게임 웹사이트He has shredded the truth in his speech, shredded the Constitution in his conduct 바카라 게임 웹사이트 I shredded the address,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said crisply. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Thank you all very much.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Republicans pilloried her as 바카라 게임 웹사이트Darth Nancy바카라 게임 웹사이트 back in 2006 and the villainization got uglier, complete with gun imagery, as the years passed.
바카라 게임 웹사이트She was, she is, the personification of the San Francisco liberal,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Lawrence said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트It was made to order for them."
But "there was a viciousness. The fact that she fit that bill so perfectly 바카라 게임 웹사이트 a smart, attractive, effective woman ... they knew they could caricature and stigmatize things about her, her appearance and style, in a way that was a very effective dog whistle of misogyny.바카라 게임 웹사이트
She would never publicly attribute the attacks to the fact she's a woman, Lawrence said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트She would say, 바카라 게임 웹사이트They did it because I바카라 게임 웹사이트m effective.'" Then 바카라 게임 웹사이트pretend to flick dust바카라 게임 웹사이트 off her immaculate jacket.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Darth Nancy바카라 게임 웹사이트 was a quaint, faraway insult by the time the pro-Trump mob came looking for her that Jan. 6. Their sign at the Capitol said, 바카라 게임 웹사이트Pelosi is Satan.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Rifling through her desk, they found a pair of boxing gloves. Pink ones.
Pelosi honed the art of aiming high, then disappointing one faction of her party or another without losing core support. Rare is the major achievement that was as far left as the party's left wing wanted.
But many are the achievements. She settled for an 바카라 게임 웹사이트Obamacare바카라 게임 웹사이트 bill, for example, that did not give everyone the option of government health insurance, but did, over time, expand access to health care.
She crushed toes along the way.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Her instincts are to find a path and if you happen to be standing in the hole, she바카라 게임 웹사이트s going to treat you like a running back," said political scientist Cal Jillson at Southern Methodist University. "If she can go through you, fine. If not, you바카라 게임 웹사이트re headed to the medicine tent.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Pelosi faced none of the questions about sharpness that dog Biden, 80 on Sunday. She still races around Congress, in high heels, at a pace people half her age can find hard to match.
But concern had grown in the ranks about the crowd of older Democratic leaders still in charge.
Leon Panetta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, said Pelosi 바카라 게임 웹사이트probably could have spent more time building a stronger bench in terms of leadership in the House and trying to make sure that others could follow in her path.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Her fundraising prowess was one key to success.
바카라 게임 웹사이트This is why the Democrats had more money than God," said Republican Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan. "She was magic, and I don바카라 게임 웹사이트t think she lost a vote.바카라 게임 웹사이트
AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.