Highs: In what turned out to be her last year as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi overcame strong opposition to pass President Obama's historic health care reform law by a painfully narrow margin in March. Three months later, in June, the House passed the final version of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. And despite the Democrats' humbling defeat in the November midterms, the San Francisco Stalwart announced her plan to remain atop the party's congressional leadership and take over as minority leader in the 112th Congress this January.
Lows: For all her legislative feats in the House, there were plenty of bills Pelsoi was unable to bring to the President's desk because they stalled in the Senate — Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal and the DREAM Act among them. But the biggest blow came during the midterm elections. With Democrats utterly incapable of selling their achievements in health care and financial reform to voters more concerned with unemployment and a floundering economy, and Pelosi herself villified as a symbol of big government run amok, the party lost their majority in the House after Election Day, and Pelosi her speakership.
—Feifei Sun