Time March 16–23, 2020For 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) in
2010, it finally happened. But while the bill was widely nick-
named Obamacare, it wouldn’t have gotten done without the
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. 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 for
women, allowing gay people to serve openly in the military and
saving the economy from financial collapse. 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 against massive pressure from
the right. Even many in her own party thought her time had
passed—Republicans depicted her as an extreme liberal parti-
san, and many Democrats worried her polarizing persona was
a liability for their party. But in 2018 she led them back to the
majority 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, protecting
America’s system of checks and balances, and mastermind-
ing the third presidential impeachment in the nation’s history.Ball, TIME’s national political correspondent, is the author of
the forthcoming biography Pelosi2010 | POLITICAL POWERHOUSE
NANCY PELOSI
BY MOLLY BALL
PELOSI, AT HER DESK IN THE
CAPITOL, ON DEC. 6, 20092010s90