Nancy Pelosi’s legacy reminds women everywhere to stay bold, keep organizing and never lose faith in their power to lead.
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)—the only female House speaker—announced this week that she plans to retire in 2027 after 39 years in Congress.
“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative,” she told her constituents early Thursday.
It’s a bittersweet moment for the nation, for feminists, and for me personally. I’ve had the privilege of knowing Rep. Pelosi for almost 30 years. I’ve been in her home, and with her at too many events and meetings and marches and rallies and press conferences to count.
Pelosi is a staunch feminist, a tireless advocate for women’s equality and the rights and freedoms of all Americans. Her fierce determination and her ability to find a way forward when every path seemed blocked, will be hard to match. “Organize, don’t agonize” was her mantra.
She will be remembered for many things, including her roles in securing passage of the Affordable Care Act, which expanded healthcare to millions; leading the impeachment of President Trump; mobilizing the House to pass COVID-19 relief bills like the HEROES Act and the Families First Act, which provided access to paid sick leave, free COVID-19 tests, and expanded unemployment insurance; continuing to push for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment; advocating for women’s rights around the globe; raising more than $1.3 billion for Democratic campaigns; and fighting Republicans’ false claims of election fraud. But looking back, I believe it was her powerful and principled leadership of the country through the nightmare of the first Trump presidency that may prove most consequential. She never faltered.
Pelosi made history in 2007 when she was elected the first woman speaker of the House. The historic nature of her achievement as first woman speaker was all but ignored by the so-called mainstream press—neither Time nor Newsweek put her on their covers, as had been their practice with each new speaker. But not Ms.
We were the first national magazine to put Pelosi on our cover, under the headline: “This is what a speaker looks like.” She always made herself available to Ms. whenever we sought an interview.
“People were bewildered that just about any man could be on the [Time] cover, but the first woman speaker of the House was not,” Pelosi told me. “I do think there are some people who can’t get used to the idea of women in power, but I don’t spend too much time—as I say, ‘I don’t agonize, I organize.'”
When I asked her about her accomplishments, she answered, “One of them is the empowerment of other women. Every woman’s success is [all] women’s success.”
Quite simply, Pelosi was the Best. Speaker. Ever.
Her marching orders to women and girls around the world are: “Be not afraid. Be ready for whatever opportunities come along, and know how important your contribution is, because when women succeed, everyone succeeds.”
This commentary was adapted from a 2022 piece, “Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Fearless Feminist Legacy,” and a 2017 piece from Ms. in print, “Nancy Pelosi: NEVER BACKS DOWN FROM A FIGHT.”
