John Boehner
John Andrew Boehner (/ˈbeɪnər/ BAY-nər;[a][3] born November 17, 1949) is a retired American politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015.[4] A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 8th congressional district from 1991 to 2015. The district included several rural and suburban areas near Cincinnati and Dayton.
"Boehner" redirects here. For others with the surname, see Bohner.
John Boehner
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Paul Ryan
Dennis Hastert
Roy Blunt
Roy Blunt (acting)
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1968 (8 weeks)
Boehner previously served as the House Minority Leader from 2007 until 2011, and House Majority Leader from 2006 until 2007. In January 2011, he was first elected Speaker and then re-elected twice. Boehner resigned from the House of Representatives in October 2015 due to opposition from within the Republican conference.
In September 2016, Squire Patton Boggs, the third-largest lobbying firm in the U.S., announced that Boehner would join their firm. It was also announced that he would become a board member of Reynolds American.[5]
Early life and education
Boehner was born in Reading, Ohio, the son of Mary Anne (née Hall; 1926–1998) and Earl Henry Boehner (1925–1990), the second of twelve children. His father was of German descent and his mother had German and Irish ancestry.[10] He grew up in modest circumstances, sharing one bathroom with his eleven siblings in a two-bedroom house in Cincinnati.[11] He started working at his family's bar at age 8, a business founded by their grandfather Andy Boehner in 1938.[11] He has lived in Southwest Ohio his entire life.[12][13]
Boehner attended Cincinnati's Moeller High School and was a linebacker on the school's football team, where he was coached by future Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust.[21] Graduating from Moeller in 1968, when United States involvement in the Vietnam War was at its peak, Boehner enlisted in the United States Navy but was honorably discharged after eight weeks because of a bad back.[22] He earned his B.A. in business administration from Xavier University in 1977, becoming the first person in his family to attend college, taking seven years as he held several jobs to pay for his education.[11]
Early career
Shortly after his graduation in 1977, Boehner accepted a position with Nucite Sales, a small sales business in the plastics industry. He was steadily promoted and eventually became president of the firm, resigning in 1990 when he was elected to Congress.[3]
From 1981 to 1984, Boehner served on the board of trustees of Union Township, Butler County, Ohio. He then served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1985 to 1990.[23]
Later career
Politics
Boehner made headlines in April 2016 when he referred to Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz as "Lucifer in the flesh" in an interview at Stanford University.[85] On May 12, after Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, Boehner's support for him (while distancing himself from Trump on several policies) became public; he also expressed satisfaction with Cruz not securing the nomination: "Thank God the guy from Texas didn't win."[86] On February 23, 2017, Boehner predicted Republicans would "fix" the Affordable Care Act and give it a different name as opposed to their stated intent to repeal and replace.[87]
On August 17, 2020, a spokesperson for Boehner stated that he would not endorse either President Trump or Joe Biden for the 2020 United States presidential election, saying: "The answer is no. I think he'd rather set himself on fire than get involved in the election. Nothing to see here."[88] Despite his critiques, Boehner confirmed he voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Explaining his vote, he said: "At the end of the day, who gets nominated to the federal courts is the most important thing a President does."[89]
After the January 6 United States Capitol attack, Boehner called on Republicans to "awaken", saying: "The invasion of our Capitol by a mob, incited by lies from some entrusted with power, is a disgrace to all who sacrificed to build our Republic."[90] Boehner later congratulated Biden on his victory after the vote was certified.[90] He has frequently reiterated his feelings, on one account noting how Trump "Incited That Bloody Insurrection",[91] and called Ted Cruz "a reckless asshole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else".[92] Boehner said that Trump should "consider resigning" and that President Trump had "violated his oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."[93] Boehner continued to express his disdain for Trump through 2023, where he stated his belief that the GOP needs to "move on" from Trump during a June interview with CBS News.[94]
Boehner's political memoir, titled On the House: A Washington Memoir, was published by St. Martin's Press on April 13, 2021. Excerpts began appearing early in April.[95] In this memoir, he lambasts Cruz, Michele Bachmann, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Trump. It also covers how the Tea Party movement, which forced him into retirement, later morphed into Trumpism.[96] In response to the criticism he received in the book, Cruz threatened to burn Boehner's book if his supporters could fulfil his “72-hour drive to raise $250,000” in campaign funds.[97]
Despite his resignation from politics, during the October 2023 Speaker of the House election following the removal of Kevin McCarthy, Boehner received one vote to reprise his role as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.[98]
Business
Boehner joined the board of tobacco company Reynolds American on September 15, 2016.[99]
In 2018 Boehner joined the board of Acreage Holdings, a cannabis corporation, to promote the medical use of cannabis and advocate for federal de-scheduling of the drug (a shift from his previous stance while in Congress).[100] In 2019, Boehner was named chair of the National Cannabis Roundtable, a cannabis lobbying organization.[101]
Personal life
Boehner and his wife Debbie were married in 1973, and lived in the Wetherington section of West Chester Township, Ohio. They have two daughters, Lindsay and Tricia.[105] Boehner has been known to be emotional and cry during noteworthy events.[106][107]
On May 15, 2016, Boehner was awarded the Laetare Medal, considered the highest honor for American Catholics, by the University of Notre Dame. The medal was awarded to Joe Biden at the same time.[108][109]
