--- description: Nancy Pelosi is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Nancy Pelosi: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt350f81fb1add7454/698a0ae6656a3f681dbd9be6/social-2010_Nancy-Pelosi.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 2010: Nancy Pelosi ## Video: FIRSTS Nancy Pelosi [Watch (HLS stream): FIRSTS Nancy Pelosi](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cNOJjxC0.m3u8) (2:38)  _Published 2017-09-02. Nancy Pelosi is the FIRST woman to have been Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives._ Mar 5, 2020 11:42 AM CUT  Andrew Cutraro—Redux by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:42 AM CUT For about a century, politicians tried and failed to create a program offering universal access to health care in America. With the passage of [the Affordable Care Act (ACA)](https://time.com/5441430/affordable-health-care-midterm-elections/ "undefined") in 2010, it finally happened. But while the bill was widely nicknamed Obamacare, it wouldn’t have gotten done without the [Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi](https://time.com/5388347/nancy-pelosi-democrats-feminism/ "undefined"). When some White House advisers wanted to quit, Pelosi urged President Obama to keep going, and worked to convince her colleagues until there were enough votes: “If the gate is locked, we push open the gate. If we don’t push open the gate, we’ll pole vault over it. If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in. But we’re not letting anything stand in the way of passing affordable health care for all Americans.” The ACA was just one of many achievements Pelosi racked up during her terms as the first woman Speaker from 2007 to 2011, including protections against [pay discrimination](https://time.com/5562441/equal-pay-wage-punishment-gap/ "undefined") for women, allowing gay people to serve openly in the military and saving the economy from [financial collapse](https://time.com/5401647/america-global-order/ "undefined"). When her party lost the majority in 2010, she refused to quit, and as minority leader, she still found ways to be effective, protecting the ACA and [Obama’s Iran nuclear deal](https://time.com/5270065/obama-iran-deal-trump/ "undefined") against massive pressure from the right. Even many in her own party thought her time had passed—Republicans depicted her as an extreme liberal partisan, and many Democrats worried her polarizing persona was a liability for their party. But in 2018 she led them back to [the majority](https://time.com/5323592/2018-elections-women-history-records/ "undefined") and became the first Speaker in six decades to return to the Speakership after losing it. Today, Democrats hail her for her tenacity in [standing up to President Trump](https://time.com/5762021/nancy-pelosi-trump-impeachment-gamble/ "undefined"), protecting America’s system of checks and balances, and masterminding the third presidential [impeachment](https://time.com/5762947/nancy-pelosi-impeachment-resolution-senate-trial/ "undefined") in the nation’s history. —_Molly Ball_ _Ball, TIME’s national political correspondent, is the author of the forthcoming biography_ [Pelosi](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250252865/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1250252865&linkId=f08e22991c7a52d6746513fa4e68883d "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793782/nancy-pelosi-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793782/nancy-pelosi-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"2010: Nancy Pelosi","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:42:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:22:02.689Z","description":"Nancy Pelosi is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793782/nancy-pelosi-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt350f81fb1add7454/698a0ae6656a3f681dbd9be6/social-2010_Nancy-Pelosi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt350f81fb1add7454/698a0ae6656a3f681dbd9be6/social-2010_Nancy-Pelosi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 2010 Nancy-Pelosi","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793782/nancy-pelosi-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"2010: Nancy Pelosi"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"FIRSTS Nancy Pelosi","description":"Nancy Pelosi is the FIRST woman to have been Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/cNOJjxC0/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-09-02T02:32:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cNOJjxC0.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5793782/nancy-pelosi-100-women-of-the-year/","duration":"PT2M38S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5793782/nancy-pelosi-100-women-of-the-year/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```