WASHINGTON — Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the House and arguably America’s most important political figure of the last 20 years, took a bow Wednesday night.
Fellow lawmakers, former staffers, family and friends of Pelosi’s crowded Statuary Hall for the unveiling of her official portrait. Joined by her husband, Paul, she pulled back blue curtains to reveal the painting, which shows her on Jan. 4, 2007, the day she was first elected speaker.
Pelosi’s two-decade reign as the Democrats’ leader in the House will come to an end in just a few weeks’ time. As she said she would, Pelosi announced last month that she would step aside for new leadership. Her Democratic successor, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, was at the unveiling, seated to the right of Kevin McCarthy, the Republican minority leader expected, but far from assured, to take over as speaker. To McCarthy’s left sat Steny Hoyer, Pelosi’s longtime No. 2 in the House and greatest intraparty rival.
