Nancy Pelosi

Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi will forever be in the history books as the first woman to serve as the Speaker of the House of the United States. Born March 26, 1940, Pelosi comes from a political family. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., served five terms in Congress before becoming the mayor of Baltimore, an office her brother Thomas III also held. Her interest in politics was sparked at an early age, and she attended President Kennedy's inaugural address in 1961 while still a student at Trinity College in Washington, D.C.

She graduated from that school, where she met future husband Paul, in 1962 with a degree in political science. After marrying in Baltimore in 1963, the couple moved to New York and then San Francisco in 1969. It was there that Pelosi began to move up the ranks of the Democratic Party, eventually being chosen to represent California on the Democratic National Committee in 1976 and chairing the California Democratic Party from 1981 to 1983. In 1985 she was appointed finance chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a post from which she resigned in 1986.

Not long after that, she ran for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in California's 12th District, vacant following the death of Rep. Sala Burton, who'd previously picked Pelosi as her designated successor. After earning the Democratic nomination by beating Harry Britt in a tight contest on April 7, 1987, Pelosi easily beat GOP candidate Harriet Ross on June 2, and took office a week later. As she continued to rise up the ranks of the party, Pelosi became to first woman to serve as the House Minority Whip--elected to the post in 2001--and in 2003 became the first woman to lead a major party in the House when she was elected to serve as House Minority Leader.

When Democrats took control of the House in the 2006 election, Pelosi was unanimously chosen to be the Democratic nominee for Speaker, and officially rose to the post in January 2007, when she beat Rep. John Boehner in the election. In addition to being the first female Speaker, she was the first Californian and first Italian-American to ascend to the position. She was re-elected Speaker in 2009 and served in the role until 2011, when Boehner succeeded her after the GOP regained control of the House. Since that time, Pelosi has again served as the House Minority Leader. In 2013 she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.