California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House (2007-2011) and (2019-2023) has announced her retirement at the end of the present term in 2026, after nearly 40 years in the House of Representatives.
There is no way that anyone can deny that Nancy Pelosi is the greatest woman in American political history for anyone elected, as only a few First Ladies (Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama) even come close in influence, and also Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be in that category.
Clearly, Pelosi is the best, by far, Speaker of the House in modern times, with only Sam Rayburn, Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, and Henry Clay competing with her for the greatest of all time.
Those three Speakers served 17, 10, and 10 years, respectively, as Speaker, while Pelosi served 8 years.
Her impact was massive, as she helped bring about the Affordable Care Act under Barack Obama, and resisted Donald Trump and his authoritarian impulses in his first term in the White House, and is still actively working against Trump’s dangerous moves in the first year of his second term. Also, she promoted the first gun violence prevention legislation since the early 1990s, during the Presidency of Joe Biden.
Pelosi was subjected to direct threat by the Insurrectionists on January 6, 2021 at the US Capitol, and the hateful rhetoric of Trump helped incite the attack on her husband in 2022.
Pelosi showed great courage and determination in the face of constant attacks by the opposition party in the House of Representatives over her two decade leadership of her party.
She was a master strategist, and had the respect of her caucus, which she was able to lead with great skill.
Not bad for a woman who had five children and did not enter politics until her mid 40s, a true model for women who wished to pursue public service.
The fact that Donald Trump continues to condemn Pelosi even now, says legions about the character of both Pelosi and Trump.
At the same time, the last six Republican Speakers since 1995–Newt Gingrich, Dennis Hastert, John Boehner, Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, and now Mike Johnson, have been steadily getting more outrageously horrendous with each new Speakership!
While Pelosi will go down in history as among the greatest Speakers and Congressional leaders of all time, Donald Trump is assuredly, more every day that passes, adding to the reality of being the WORST President, by far, in American history.
It is causing reconsideration of James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Franklin Pierce, the others Presidents, all around the Pre Civil and Civil War period, who have been rated as the worst Presidents of American history!