Nancy Pelosi's House: After Her Historic First Term as Speaker, Tough Challenges Ahead

President-elect Barack Obama with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, following their meeting on Capitol Hill.

A grandmother of seven (with an eighth on the way) , Pelosi was born into politics but raised five children before, at age 47, running for the House almost 22 years ago. Her father served in Congress and, like one of Pelosi's brothers, was Baltimore's mayor. Her husband is a real estate developer and investor, and, according to Roll Call , the couple's net worth is an estimated $19 million.

She favors Ghirardelli chocolate squares, reads books on Kindle, and uses alliteration when describing her mores. One Pelosi-ism: "Proper preparation prevents poor performance." Another has it that the pillars of a successful candidate are "money, message, mobilization, and management."

Now her own management skills stand to be severely tested, even with a 256-to-178 majority. Obama has a far-reaching agenda that includes healthcare and energy reforms. Among Pelosi's pet issues is equal pay for women. Committee chairs have their own pent-up demands. All the while, fiscally conservative "blue dog" Democrats will cast a wary eye on spending bonanzas.

Finally, there's the GOP opposition, where moderates are fewer in number. Harvard political scientist Elaine Kamarck, who worked in the Clinton White House, predicted that Republican lawmakers will second-guess and try to stall the stimulus, meaning a much-needed shot in the arm for the economy could be delayed. "People have to feel the economy is coming back in their hometowns," she said. "Her success at getting the stimulus through will pay off nicely in 2010 if she's able to do that, and if not, there'll be consequences."

• Read about the massive lobbying frenzy in Congress over the stimulus package.
• Read more from Katherine Skiba.