Nancy Pelosi’s Portrait Is Unveiled as Republicans and Democrats Pay Tribute - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — It has been 15 years since Nancy Pelosi made past arsenic the archetypal pistillate to beryllium elected talker of the House.

On Wednesday, that past was placed connected show connected the walls of the Capitol, erstwhile Ms. Pelosi’s authoritative representation was unveiled and acceptable to beryllium hung successful the speaker’s lobby, adorned until present lone with gilt-framed lipid portraits of the achromatic men who preceded Ms. Pelosi successful the post, including Sam Rayburn, Tip O’Neill and Frederick Muhlenberg, the House’s archetypal speaker.

“My members had the courageousness to elite a pistillate speaker,” Ms. Pelosi, dressed successful white, told a assemblage that gathered successful Statuary Hall to people the occasion.

The ceremonial honoring Ms. Pelosi’s likeness and bequest brought unneurotic erstwhile rivals, would-be successors, colleagues going backmost decades, furniture officials and tv anchors. It adjacent featured a virtual cameo by erstwhile President Barack Obama, who made a video tribute successful which helium pronounced her “one of the astir accomplished legislators successful American history.”

Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the number leader, who is successful the mediate of a white-knuckle combat to win Ms. Pelosi, sat silently, sandwiched betwixt Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Ms. Pelosi’s longtime No. 2, and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the incoming number leader. Former Representative Joseph Crowley, the onetime heir evident to Ms. Pelosi who lost his spot successful 2018 to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, besides showed up to grant Ms. Pelosi.

John Boehner, who was talker betwixt Ms. Pelosi’s 2 stints successful the role, teared up arsenic helium spoke of her arsenic a relation exemplary to his daughters.

“Game recognizes game,” Mr. Boehner said, noting that helium was borrowing a operation from the younger generation. “And the information of the substance is nary different talker of the House successful the modern era, Republican oregon Democrat, has wielded the gavel with specified authorization oregon with specified accordant results.”

It each served arsenic a reminder that Ms. Pelosi, 82, has outlasted them all.

Even though Ms. Pelosi is stepping down from leadership, Mr. Obama said, “I’ll inactive consciousness amended knowing that your representation volition beryllium looking down from these walls, reminding everyone who sees it to support up the fight.”

Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and bulk leader, described sitting successful a harmless country with Ms. Pelosi during the battle connected the Capitol connected Jan. 6, 2021, working to reconstruct bid to Congress aft a pro-Trump mob disrupted the authoritative electoral number to corroborate Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s triumph successful the 2020 statesmanlike election.

“Watching her, marveling astatine her,” Mr. Schumer said, “was 1 of my proudest moments ever of my clip successful office.”

But helium said Ms. Pelosi had impressed him good earlier that.

“From the start, it was obvious: This caller subordinate had it all,” Mr. Schumer said. “She knew the issues, she knew the politics, and astir importantly, she knew what she was warring for.”

Ms. Pelosi’s portrait, painted by the creator Ronald Sherr, was completed successful 2014 and has been successful retention ever since. In the painting, Ms. Pelosi is pictured dressed successful a maroon suit with a dense drawstring of pearls, holding the speaker’s gavel, her eyes focused connected thing retired of show but up of her.

Mr. Sherr died past week.

The walls of the speaker’s lobby — a long, carpeted corridor extracurricular the House enclosure wherever members stitchery betwixt votes — diagnostic the portraits of much than 20 erstwhile speakers, with respective much hanging successful the halls astir the Capitol. The contented of hanging portraits dates backmost to 1852, with the donation of a representation of Henry Clay, who served arsenic House talker 3 times, from the creator Giuseppe Fagnani. The House began mandating lipid paintings of the speakers successful 1910.

The representation unveiling ceremonial capped what has go an extended information and solemnisation of Ms. Pelosi’s bequest since she announced past month connected the House level that she would measurement down from enactment but stay successful Congress.

On Tuesday night, a documentary by her daughter, the filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, was released connected HBO, offering a sympathetic behind-the-scenes look astatine the Democratic Party’s astir ascendant governmental relation of the past 2 decades. The movie included intimate scenes of the always-coiffed Ms. Pelosi relentlessly moving the telephone portion making her bed, dressed successful pajamas, arsenic good arsenic behind-the-scenes footage of her whipping votes for the Affordable Care Act.

Ms. Pelosi appeared moved by the outpouring connected Wednesday. Of the tribute from Mr. Boehner, who is known to choke up publically successful large moments, she joked, “I would person been a small disappointed if helium didn’t get emotional.”

Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard, Democrat of California, said Ms. Pelosi was treated disrespectfully erstwhile she was archetypal elected speaker.

“You whitethorn callback however initially overmuch of the quality sum was much astir her clothes, shoes and hair, than astir the spot of her enactment and her grasp of the captious issues earlier Congress and our country,” Ms. Roybal-Allard said.

But her record, arsenic the pistillate who doubly led Democrats to powerfulness successful the House and has been a cardinal fig successful the legislative accomplishments of the Obama and Biden administrations, has done distant with immoderate caricature based solely connected her gender.

“She is the astir effectual talker successful the past of the United States,” Representative Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, said.

Afterward, guests, including Ms. Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, who was attacked successful October astatine the couple’s San Francisco location by an assailant who was said to person been targeting the speaker, gathered for a reception successful a country adjacent the House floor.

Outside was a caller sign, hung astatine 6 o’clock Wednesday morning, bearing the room’s caller name: the “Speaker Nancy Pelosi Caucus Room.”