WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Bush took note of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's historic elevation to become the first female leader of the House, remarking that her father, a former congressman, would have been proud.

"In his day the late Congressman Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. from Baltimore, Md., saw presidents Roosevelt and Truman," Bush said as he began his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, in a departure from his prepared remarks.

"But nothing could compare with the sight of his daughter, Nancy, presiding tonight as speaker of the House of Representatives."

"Tonight," the president continued, "I have the high privilege and distinct honor of my own, as the first president to begin the State of the Union message with these words: 'Madam Speaker."'

Pelosi, seated behind Bush, nodded her appreciation as loud, bipartisan applause reverberated in the chamber.

Although Pelosi has represented San Francisco in Congress since 1987, she grew up in the Little Italy section of Baltimore and as a youngster learned politics at her father's side. D'Alesandro represented the city in Congress for a decade and was its mayor for 12 years in the 1940s and '50s.