Background

Nancy Pelosi was born on March 26, 1940 in Baltimore, MD. She is the youngest of six Italian-American children of Annunciata M. "Nancy" D'Alesandro and Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. Her father was a Democratic Congressman from Maryland and a Mayor of Baltimore. Pelosi's brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III was mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971.

Pelosi was involved with politics from an early age. In her outgoing remarks as the 52nd Speaker of the House, Pelosi said that she had attended John F. Kennedy's inaugural address when he became President in January 1961. Pelosi graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, a Catholic all-girls high school in Baltimore, and from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. in 1962, with a degree in political science.

Relationships

Nancy met businessman, Paul Frank Pelosi while she was attending Trinity College. They got married in Baltimore at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on September 7, 1963. After the couple married, they moved to New York, and then to San Francisco in 1969. Her husband, since 1963, is Paul Pelosi.

They have five children together, Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul, and Alexandra. One of their daughters, Alexandra became a journalist and covered the Republican presidential campaigns in 2000 and made a film about the experience, Journeys with George. In 2007, their other daughter, Christine published a book, Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders.

According to Roll Call's Wealth of Congress Index, Pelosi and her husband, Paul, hold properties "worth at least $14.65 million, including a St. Helena vineyard in Napa Valley worth at least $5 million, and commercial real estate in San Francisco. Roll Call said Pelosi's earnings are connected to her husband's heavy investments in stocks including "Apple, Comcast, Facebook, Shutterfly, and Walt Disney. Roll Call reported that they have $13.46 million in liabilities including mortgages on seven properties.

Career

After moving to San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi worked her way up in Democratic politics. She became a friend of one of the leaders of the California Democratic Party, 5th District Congressman Phillip Burton. In 1976, Pelosi was elected as a Democratic National Committee member from California, a position she would hold until 1996. She was elected as party chair for Northern California on January 30, 1977, and for the California Democratic Party, which she held from 1981 until 1983. That same year, she ran to replace Chuck Manatt as chair of the Democratic National Committee but lost to then-DNC Treasurer Paul G. Kirk. Pelosi left her post as DSCC finance chair in 1986.