Nancy Pelosi has said she may not live to see a woman elected president of the United States, conceding that progress towards breaking the highest political barrier for women has been slower than she once expected.
In an interview with USA Today published on Sunday, the outgoing California congresswoman and former House speaker reflected on the defeats of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris in the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections, both of whom lost to Donald Trump. Pelosi suggested that the obstacles facing women in American politics are more entrenched than commonly acknowledged.
“It’s not a glass ceiling. It’s a marble ceiling,” Pelosi said, describing the resistance she encountered during her own rise in Congress and the broader institutional barriers confronting women seeking the presidency.
She added that she had long believed the American public would be more receptive to a female president than Congress would be to a woman serving as House speaker. “I always thought that a woman would be president of the United States long before a woman would be speaker of the House,” she said.
However, with no woman yet elected to the Oval Office, Pelosi said she had reassessed her expectations. Turning 86 in March, she told the newspaper that a woman becoming president may not happen in her lifetime, though she remained confident it would occur within the next generation.
Her remarks echo comments made by Michelle Obama in November, when the former first lady questioned whether the US was ready to elect a woman as president. Speaking on her YouTube channel, Obama said there remained deep resistance among some men to being led by a woman, adding: “Sadly, we ain’t ready.”
Pelosi entered Congress in 1988 representing San Francisco and won re-election 20 times. She made history as the first woman to serve as speaker of the House, holding the post from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023.
In the interview, Pelosi also spoke about her role in persuading President Joe Biden to abandon his bid for re-election in 2024. She said the two have not spoken since he withdrew from the race, which Trump went on to win.
“I’m saddened by it because I love him and I respect him,” she said, while adding that she respected Biden’s decision. Pelosi noted she was grateful for Biden’s statement praising her as “the best speaker of the House in American history” when she announced her retirement in November.
Asked about stepping down after four decades in Congress, Pelosi said simply: “It was time. I mean, I’ve been ready for a while.”
She also remarked that she is frequently asked what she plans to do next. Her usual response, she said, is blunt: “I don’t have to do anything – I’m old!”
