Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi made history in November 2002 when her colleagues selected her as minority leader of the House of Representatives. She is the first woman in U.S. history to be selected as a party leader by either party in either house of Congress. As the Democratic minority leader and an established liberal, she will almost certainly challenge the Republicans' conservative political agenda. With Republican George W. Bush in the White House and a Republican majority in the House and the Senate, her work is cut out for her.

Nancy Pelosi grew up in a politically active family. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., was a five-term representative to Congress from Maryland. Both he and Pelosi's brother served as mayor of Baltimore. Pelosi was born in Baltimore in 1940, graduated from Trinity College in Washington, D. C., and moved to San Francisco after marrying Paul Pelosi. She raised five children in California, but she never lost her interest in politics. When her youngest child was in high school, she ran for Congress, and has served since 1987 as the Representative from California's 8th District, which includes most of the city of San Francisco.

Nancy Pelosi is known for leading liberal initiatives, including AIDS funding, health care, education, affordable housing, human rights, the environment, and abortion rights. She has focused on these issues as a senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, which helps to set spending priorities for the national government. In October 2001, she was elected Democratic whip, a position that gave her responsibility for the party's legislative strategy in the House. Then in 2002, almost immediately after the sweeping Republican victories in the November mid-term election, Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri stepped down as Democratic minority leader, a position that he had held since 1995. The Democratic representatives selected Congresswoman Pelosi to fill the position by an overwhelming vote of 177 to 29.

Joining Nancy Pelosi in the 108th Congress are 58 women, about three times as many as served two decades earlier. The Senate also has seen a significant increase in female membership, from 2 in 1981 to 14 in 2003.