John Boehner | Biography 2021

While running for U.S. House Of Representatives in 1990, he vowed that he would not be the typical politician who just represents Congress, grow old and retire. Boehner also assured that he and his family would remain in Ohio and commute to the capital, rather than moving to Washington, as a sign of dedication to the state. His stances won him the Congress position with a sublime victory from the general voters.

By Chetana
Update : May 11, 2021

John Boehner is an American politician who served as the 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Who is John Boehner?

John Boehner was a member of the US House of Representatives from Ohio 8th district from 1991 to 2015 and was also the 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Raised in a humble background family, Boehner had to work to pay for his college education. He was a first-generation graduate from his family. After college, Boehner joined a small marketing company as a salesman and worked his way to become the firm's president.

He entered into politics after being elected as the Union Township Trustee in 1982. In two years, he was appointed as a representative to the Ohio state legislature. Then, he ran for Congress in 1990 and won the election. While working in the House of Representatives, he was in the 'Gang of Seven': responsible for the ethical clearance of corruption from the House. He also played a major role in the application of the 'Contract of America.'

After Bush became the President, he led the House Committee on Education and Workforce as the chairman in 2001. While on the committee, he made numerous reforms in the educational and financial system of the taxpayers. It led him to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives, where he served from 2011 to 2015. Boehner resigned from politics in 2015 and started working with firms like Reynolds American, Squire Patton Boggs, and Acreage Holdings.

Early Bio

John Andrew Boehner was born on November 17, 1949, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Earl Henry Boehner, and mother Mary Ann (Hall) Boehner owned a bar in Reading, Ohio. He grew up working as a bartender and mopping the tavern floors along with his 12 siblings.

Boehner did his high school in Cincinnati Moeller High School, where he played linebacker. He was coached by the future Notre Dame University coach Gerry Faust. After graduating high school in 1968, he joined the Navy during the Vietnam War. He was, however, discharged after eight weeks of enlistment due to his back problem.

Boehner then joined Xavier University and started working as a night shift janitor at a chemical plant to pay for tuition. As he was making payments on his own, it took him seven years to graduate from college. He graduated in 1977 with a Degree in Business Administration.

Career

After graduation, Boehner took a job as a salesman in Nucite Sales, a small company in the packaging and plastic industry. He gradually got promoted from sales and even became the president of the firm after the owner died. He resigned from Nucite after his political career took a height in 1990 when he was elected to Congress.

Political Career

Boehner's first step into politics was in 1982 when he got elected as the Union Township Trustee. He worked in that position for two years. He was then appointed as a representative to the Ohio state legislature from 1984 to 1990. He also worked on the 1988 presidential campaign of Jack Kemp, a Republican candidate from New York, whom Boehner considered a role model.

In 1990, the running Republican representative for the House, Buz Lukens, was caught up in allegations of having sexual relations with a minor, Lukens' diminishing popularity gave space for Boehner to run for Congress. Though he was far behind the running candidates Lukens and Thomas Kindness, Boehner worked his way through the polls. He showed himself as a small business person capable of making a change compared to his opponents. He vowed that he would not be the typical politician who just represents Congress, grow old and retire. Boehner also assured that he and his family would remain in Ohio and commute to the capital, rather than moving to Washington, as a sign of dedication to the state. His stances won him the Congress position with a sublime victory from the general voters.

In his first year in Congress, he became the first Ohio congressman in 19 years to work on the House Agriculture Committee. He remained the House Representative for the Ohio 8th district until he resigned from the position in 2015.

Boehner marked his position and reassurance on his first two-term of service in the House. Along with other fellow members of the House, Boehner formed a reform group which was called "Gang of Seven." They exposed a House banking scandal at the House Restaurant, and illegal cash-for-stamps deals at the House Post Office. It created a whirlwind closure of scandals and fraudulent ventures rooted in the office and made accountable progress.

Following this, in 1994, Boehner worked with the then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and crafted the 'Contract with America.' The Republican Party advocated this agenda in the 1994 elections. The legislation of the Congressional Accountability Act helped in enacting a balanced federal budget. It was a reforming act in the course of US history, which labeled Congress to be no different from others in the nation regarding the applicability of rules and regulations.

During that time, the members of Congress were treated highly due to their political position. The contract, along with the budget, provided tax relief to middle-class living and significantly decreased the nation's crime rate. Subsequently, it led to the victory of the Grand Old Party (GOP), also known as the Republic Party in the 1994 election.

With the shift in political paradigm, George W. Bush won the presidential election in 2001, and Boehner was appointed as the Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Workforce. He retained his position for six years till 2007. He introduced many refining legislative acts during his tenure.

Among them was the No Child Left Behind Act, which created an accountability scheme for public schools by regulating standardized tests to give failing students further choices to attend other schools. The act was signed by the president and was enacted as a law in 2002. He also introduced the Pension Protection Act in 2006, which protected the pension of the holder from unwise investments leading to failures in the pension system. It was passed in 2008.

Eventually, on January 5, 2011, Boehner was appointed as the Speaker of the House after the 2010 election, where he led 63 Congressional Republicans into the US House seats. He was the 53rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. During his time as the Speaker, he introduced another agenda, 'Pledge to America' that focused on reflecting the priorities of the nationals by removing barriers of the government to private-sector job creation and economic growth. In addition to that, Boehner also addressed the drivers of America's debt during the economic fall down, reforming Congress and maintaining a bond between the government and the citizens.

Then in 2015, after two tenures, Boehner announced his resignation amidst his third tenure. To this, he made a statement claiming that his stay in the House can cause irreparable damage to it. During the high-profit fights on Capitol Hill, his management was not accepted positively by the House of Conservatives, which had instituted his in-between resignation. He officially resigned in September 2015.

After Politics

Following his political resignation, Boehner became a board member of the tobacco company Reynolds American in 2016 and also started working as a Senior Strategic Advisor at the Squire Patton Boggs. In 2018, he was placed on the advisory board of a cannabis company, Acreage Holdings. Though he had opposed the legalization of marijuana in his previous career, he claimed that his perspective on the medical drug had evolved with time. He had also published a memoir in 2021 titled 'On the House.' The book is based on the political revilement of the Republican Party from his perspective. He had also condemned the actions of the former President, Donald Trump, in the book.

Personal Life

Boehner married Debbie during his college days. He met her when he worked in the Chemical Plant as a night janitor. The couple has two daughters, Lindsay and Tricia. He is known to be an avid golfer.

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