Nancy Pelosi: How the California Democrat made history again, with a little help from Donald Trump

Two months ago, just after November’s midterm elections, 16 Democrats from the House of Representatives issued a letter calling for a new leader.

Nancy Pelosi, they said, was a “historic” figure – the first woman elected as speaker – but they added that the Democrats had won their new majority of more than 35 seats on the “backs of candidates who said they would support new leadership”.

Now the 78-year-old Pelosi has been sworn in for the second time as speaker, the only woman to hold the position in the chamber’s 230 year history.

“This House will be for the people,” Pelosi said. “To lower health costs and prescription drugs prices, and protect people with pre-existing conditions; to increase paychecks by rebuilding America with green and modern infrastructure – from sea to shining sea.”

The story of Pelosi’s comeback, following a poll last September that found more than half of Democrats thought it was time for her to quit, underscores not just her tenacity but her skills as a smart, sharp-elbowed political operative. She can probably also thank Donald Trump a little bit.

Most of the credit must go to Pelosi. Barely 10 days after those 16 Democrats released their letter calling for her to go, Pelosi won the party’s nomination for speaker in a 203-32 vote.

During the intervening days, Pelosi and her team had worked furiously to win over her detractors, placating one potential challenger, Marcia Fudge of Ohio, by naming her chair of the reinstated House Administration Subcommittee on Elections.

Another signatory to the letter, congressman Brian Higgins of New York, changed course after reaching a deal with Pelosi to prioritise a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Another, Stephen Lynch, was photographed emerging with Pelosi from her office after a meeting that did enough to win him over.

Also important were the voices of several new, progressive members who said they would support a new leader, if it brought genuine change. “All the challenges to Leader Pelosi are coming from her right, in an apparent effort to make the party even more conservative and bent towards corporate interests,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted as Pelosi fought for her job.

“So long as [she] remains the most progressive candidate for speaker, she can count on my support.”

The stature of Pelosi, who also managed to ensure the survival of her long-term deputies Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn, only grew after Trump invited her and senator Chuck Schumer into the Oval Office to discuss a potential deal to avoid a government shutdown.

With the cameras running, Trump was seen to lose his cool and claim he would be “proud” to trigger a shutdown. Afterwards, Pelosi reportedly told members of her party the president’s obsession with a border wall appeared to be linked to his manhood – “if manhood can be associated with him”.

On Thursday, Pelosi, dressed in a vibrant pink dress, walked across the floor of the House, lingering to acknowledge the applause and congratulations of those who had voted for her, and putting out of mind for now the 15 members of her party who did not. In the end, she beat Republican Kevin McCarthy 220-192.

With Democrats taking control of the House, life is going to become very different for Trump and the Republicans. If Pelosi paused to enjoy the moment, she can be forgiven for doing so. The US has yet to elect a woman as president but it has elected a woman as speaker. Twice.