Nancy Pelosi: a Feminist Icon - Elizabeth K.
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Nancy Patricia d’Alesandro was born on the 26th of March 1940 in Baltimore to Thomas and Anunciata d’Alesandro, both of Italian descent. She was exposed to political life at a very young age, her father being a Democratic congressman, and says that “People knew (...) where Congressman D'Alesandro lived, and would line up at our door, looking for help". At the age of 12 she attended her first Democratic National Convention and even attended John Kennedy’s inauguration. At 18 she graduated from the Institute of Notre-Dame, an all-girls catholic high school, and at 22 years old received a degree in political science from Trinity Washington University, located in Washington, D.C. In her early twenties she worked as an intern in the office of Senator Daniel Brewster of Maryland, along with Steny Hoyer whom, years later, she would meet again in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was during the time in which she worked with Sen. Brewster as a receptionist that she first encountered the double standards laid for women in the political world. Whilst attending college, she met her husband Paul Francis Pelosi and they married in Baltimore, before moving to New York and, shortly thereafter, San Francisco. There, she befriended Phillip Burton, a then-congressman, and started a Democratic Party Club. It was at this point that she was appointed to the library commission of San Francisco, her first public position. In 1976 she was hired to work
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for Jerry Brown’s presidential campaign and, that same year, was elected as a Democratic National Committee member. A year later she was elected party chair, before becoming the head of the California Democratic Party in 1981. There, she stayed out of the spotlight, working mostly in recruiting candidates and fundraising. She later served as the Committee Host Chairwoman of the San Francisco Democratic National Convention, and after that as the finance chair of Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee until 1986. Pelosi became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1987, the same year her youngest child, Alexandra Pelosi, left for college. Sala Burton, the incumbent for the seat, who had previously succeeded her husband, contracted cancer and didn’t run for reelection. Sala personally chose Pelosi as her successor and guaranteed her the support of her family's contacts. She died in early 1987, and the first round of the special elections to fill her seat took place in April. In the democratic primaries, Pelosi narrowly defeated Harry Britt. In the election in early June, she defeated Republican candidate Harriet Ross, securing her seat. She officially took office on June 9th 1987. She hosted no less than a hundred house parties during her campaign, and raised over 1 million dollars in the span of seven weeks. A year later she was reelected in the regular elections, and has consistently won reelection since then, most recently last year, where she
