Madame Speaker
The first woman to ever ascend to Congress' top job, Nancy Pelosi has consolidated more power in her office than any other Speaker in modern history, scholars of the office believe. And in the first year of the Obama presidency, she has used that power — and an 81-seat Democratic majority, the largest either party has enjoyed in the House in 14 years — to pass every item on his agenda: health care, energy, regulatory reform, education, pay equity.

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