Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives A. Halleck who became Republican House leader and Minority Leader from 1959 to 1965, Hale Boggs who died in a plane crash, and Dick Gephardt who became the Democrats' House leader but as Minority Leader since his party lost control in the 1994 midterm elections. Since 1995, the only Majority Leader to become Speaker is John Boehner, though indirectly as his party lost control in the 2006 midterms elections. He subsequently served as Republican House leader and Minority Leader from 2007 to 2011 and then was elected Speaker when the House reconvened in 2011. In 1998, with Speaker Newt Gingrich
Women in the United States House of Representatives pool opened to women in 2009, the pool having previously been male-only. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1989 as the first Latina in either chamber of Congress. Tammy Baldwin entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1999 as the first openly gay woman in either chamber of Congress. Nancy Pelosi became the first female House Minority Whip in 2002. She went on to become the first and only to date female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in 2007. Also in 2007, Mazie Hirono entered the U.S. House of Representatives as the first female