Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; née D'Alesandro; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representati...
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; née D'Alesandro; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019, and previously from 2007 to 2011. Pelosi has served as a U.S. representative from California since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the only woman in U.S. history to serve as Speaker and, until the inauguration of Kamala Harris as vice president, was the highest-ranking female elected official in United States history. As House Speaker, Pelosi is second in the presidential line of succession, after the vice president.Pelosi was first elected to Congress in 1987, following her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., who served as a U.S. representative from Maryland and Mayor of Baltimore, into politics. She is the dean of California's congressional delegation, having begun her 18th term in 2021. Pelosi represents California's 12th congressional district, which comprises four-fifths of the city and county of San Francisco. She initially represented the 5th district (1987–1993), and then, when district boundaries were redrawn after the 1990 Census, the 8th district (1993–2013). Pelosi has led the House Democrats since 2003—the first woman to lead a party in Congress—serving twice each as House minority leader (2003–2007 and 2011–2019) and as Speaker (2007–2011 and since 2019).
Pelosi was a major opponent of the Iraq War as well as the Bush administration's 2005 attempt to partially privatize Social Security. During her first speakership, she was instrumental in the passage of many of the Obama administration's landmark bills, including the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the 2010 Tax Relief Act.
Pelosi lost the speakership in 2011 after the Republican Party won a majority in the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections. But she retained her role as leader of the House Democratic Caucus and returned to the role of House minority leader. In the 2018 midterm elections, the Democrats regained control of the House. When the 116th Congress convened on January 3, 2019, Pelosi was again elected Speaker, becoming the first former Speaker to return to the post since Sam Rayburn in 1955. Under Pelosi's leadership, the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, first on December 18, 2019, and again on January 13, 2021.On January 3, 2021, Pelosi was reelected to a fourth term as Speaker of the House, which is expected to be her last, after a deal with progressives.
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Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States Secretary of Energy from 2017 to 2019 a...
James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States Secretary of Energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th Governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections.
Born into a family of cotton farmers in Haskell, Texas, Perry graduated from Texas A&M University in 1972 and entered into the United States Air Force, serving a five-year stint and achieving the rank of captain. After leaving the Air Force in 1977, Perry returned to Texas and entered politics, serving as a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991. In 1989, Perry switched parties and became a Republican, and was elected Agriculture Commissioner of Texas the following year. In 1998, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas, becoming the state's first Republican Lieutenant Governor since Reconstruction.
Perry assumed the governorship of Texas in December 2000, after Governor George W. Bush resigned following his election as President. Perry was re-elected Governor three times, becoming the longest-serving Governor in Texas history. As Governor, Perry identified as a staunch conservative, enacting conservative fiscal policies, restrictions on abortion and expanded gun rights. Long considered a potential presidential candidate, Perry officially announced his candidacy for the 2012 Republican nomination for President in August 2011. Perry initially performed well in polling and showed strong fundraising prowess, leading to him being considered a serious contender for the nomination, however his support declined following poor performances in debates and early primaries and he withdrew from the race in January 2012.Perry declined to run for re-election to a fourth term as Governor and left office in 2015, launching a second presidential campaign shortly after. Perry's second presidential campaign failed to garner substantial polling support, fundraising or media attention, leading to him withdrawing from the race after only three months. Perry was initially a vocal opponent of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign for President, however he later endorsed Trump after he secured the Republican nomination. After winning the presidency, Trump appointed Perry as Secretary of Energy and he was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 62–37 vote on March 2, 2017. On October 17, 2019, Perry reported to Trump that he intended to resign as Secretary of Energy at the end of the year. He left office on December 1, 2019.
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