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Thu 01 Jan 2007Pelosi becomes first woman to lead US HouseNancy Pelosi, a California liberal who helped engineer the Democratic takeover of the US Congress from President George W. Bush's Republicans, this evening became the first woman to lead the US House of Representatives.Ms Pelosi was chosen on a party-line vote of 233-202. The leader of the minority Democrats the past four years, she now is the highest ranking woman in the US government, second in the line of succession behind only the vice president to Mr Bush.