Late start

After college, Nancy married Paul Pelosi and moved to his hometown of San Francisco, California.

The two have five children, born within a six-year time span, and eight grandchildren.

Pelosi was 47 when she launched her first campaign, in a special election for a seat in Congress. But the future speaker was active in California politics during the years she focused on raising her children.

"She had been a community activist, and even before she ran for political office herself, she had risen through the ranks to be one of the most powerful women in California politics," said Lake. "She had been the head of the California Democratic Party, and that was at a time when women did not run political parties, and when the California Democratic Party was one of the most powerful parties in the country."

Press conference on health care reform outside the US Capitol

Pelosi has represented California's eighth district, which includes most of the city of San Francisco, since 1987. She made history 20 years later, when she was elected the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Breaking barriers

As she wielded the Speaker's gavel for the first time, Pelosi was acutely aware of what her election meant to other women who aspire to run for office.

"For our daughters and granddaughters today, we have broken the marble ceiling," she said.