Boehner, John Andrew
[key], 1949–, American congressman, Speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives (2011–15), b. Cincinnati. A business executive and a
Republican member (1985–90) of the Ohio house of representatives, he
first won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990, and became
an ally of Newt Gingrich. House
Republican Conference chairman from 1995-99, he also chaired
(2001–06) the House committee on education and the workforce. Boehner
subsequently served as House majority leader (2006–07), succeeding
Tom DeLay, and as House
minority leader (2007–11). After the Republicans won control of the
House in the 2010 elections, he became House speaker, but divisions in his
caucus between more moderate conservatives and those who wanted a stronger
antigovernment approach and greater confrontation with the Obama administration undermined his
leadership and ultimately led him to resign as speaker in 2015 and retire
from the House. He subsequently became a consultant with a Washington law
firm.
See his memoir, On the House (2021).
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