Introduction
John Boehner's memoir "On the House" offers a candid and engaging look at the life and career of one of America's most prominent Republican politicians. From his humble beginnings in Ohio to his rise through the ranks of Congress, Boehner provides an insider's perspective on the inner workings of Washington and the dramatic changes that have shaped American politics over the past few decades.
As a long-serving member of the House of Representatives and eventual Speaker of the House, Boehner had a front-row seat to some of the most significant political events of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. His story is one of ambition, principle, and the challenges of leadership in an increasingly polarized political landscape.
Early Life and Formative Years
A Humble Beginning
John Boehner's story begins in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1958. Growing up in a modest two-bedroom home with eleven siblings, Boehner learned the value of hard work and family at an early age. His father, Earl, owned and operated Andy's Café, a small bar in the blue-collar neighborhood of Carthage. It was here that young John would receive his first lessons in service and community.
From the age of eight, Boehner spent his weekends and evenings working at Andy's Café. He bussed tables, took orders, poured beer, and cleaned bathrooms. This early exposure to the working-class patrons of his father's bar would shape Boehner's understanding of America and influence his future political views.
The café was more than just a business; it was the heart of the community. People from all walks of life gathered there, creating a microcosm of American society. Boehner observed how his father treated everyone with respect, regardless of their background or status. This democratic and inclusive atmosphere left a lasting impression on him.
Finding His Way
As Boehner entered his late teens, he faced the challenges of figuring out his future. After graduating high school without the grades for an academic scholarship, he had to find ways to fund his own education. He took on various jobs, including construction work and a brief stint in the navy, which ended due to a medical discharge.
Eventually, Boehner managed to save enough money to enroll at Xavier University, a Jesuit-run private school. Balancing his studies with night shifts, Boehner felt directionless until a chance encounter changed the course of his life.
In the summer of 1972, Boehner's skill as a softball player led to a job opportunity at Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. It was here that he met Deb, the woman who would become his wife. Their relationship gave Boehner a new sense of purpose and direction.
The Path to Politics
After completing his degree at Xavier in 1977, Boehner began working at Nucite Sales, a local plastics and packaging producer. Over the next 15 years, he climbed the ranks, eventually becoming president of the company. This experience in the business world would later inform his political views and approach to governance.
During this time, Boehner's political leanings began to shift. Though he came from a family of Democrats, he found himself increasingly drawn to Republican ideas, particularly those of Ronald Reagan. The promise of lower taxes, streamlined government, and unleashing the potential of the free market resonated with Boehner's experiences as a small business owner.
Entering the Political Arena
An Unlikely Candidate
In 1989, an opportunity arose for Boehner to enter politics. The incumbent representative for Ohio's Eighth District, Donald Lukens, was embroiled in a sex scandal. The Republican Party decided to run a new candidate, and Boehner threw his hat into the ring.
Despite facing an uphill battle against the party's preferred candidate, Tom Kindness, Boehner's message of fiscal responsibility and government reform struck a chord with voters. In a surprising upset, he won both the Republican nomination and the subsequent election against Lukens.
A New Kind of Republican
Boehner arrived in Washington in 1991 as part of a new wave of Republican representatives. Inspired by Reagan's vision, these newcomers were determined to shake up the status quo and bring about meaningful change in government.
One of Boehner's first targets was the House bank, an institution that allowed members of Congress to overdraw their accounts without penalty. Along with six other freshman Republicans, dubbed the "Gang of Seven," Boehner worked to expose this abuse of taxpayer money. Their efforts led to the closure of the bank and earned Boehner a reputation as a reformer.
The Gang of Seven didn't stop there. They also set their sights on the House Post Office, uncovering a scandal involving the misuse of stamps and even allegations of drug dealing. These crusades against corruption caught the attention of Newt Gingrich, who was leading a charge to retake the House for the Republicans.
Rising Through the Ranks
Conference Chairman
Boehner's efforts to clean up Congress earned him a spot in the Republican leadership. In 1994, he became the conference chairman, the fourth-highest position in the House leadership hierarchy. This role gave Boehner a platform to push for further reforms and advance the Republican agenda.
However, Boehner's rise was not without setbacks. In 1998, he lost his leadership position to J.C. Watts, a setback that would keep him on the fringes of House leadership for the next seven years.
Majority Leader and the Fight Against Earmarks
Boehner's opportunity to return to leadership came in 2005 when Tom DeLay, the House Majority Leader, was indicted on criminal charges. Boehner ran for the position and won, campaigning on a promise to ban earmarks.
Earmarks, the practice of adding funding for specific projects to larger spending bills, had long been a contentious issue in Congress. While they helped secure votes for legislation, they also encouraged wasteful spending and corruption. Boehner's crusade against earmarks put him at odds with many of his colleagues, including some powerful figures like Alaska representative Don Young.
Boehner's confrontation with Young over the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" project became the stuff of Washington legend. Despite threats and intimidation, Boehner stood his ground, demonstrating the tenacity that would become his hallmark as a leader.
Navigating Crisis
The 2008 Financial Crisis
The summer of 2008 brought one of the greatest challenges of Boehner's career: the global financial crisis. As the minority leader in the House, Boehner found himself in the difficult position of trying to rally Republican support for President George W. Bush's proposed bailout package.
In a meeting with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Boehner learned the full extent of the crisis. The American financial system was on the brink of collapse, threatening to take the global economy down with it.
Convincing his fellow Republicans to support a massive government intervention went against everything they had campaigned on. Many of the newer, more conservative members were resistant to the idea, preferring to let failing banks and companies face the consequences of their poor decisions.
Boehner had to walk a fine line between his own fiscal conservative principles and the urgent need to prevent economic catastrophe. He appealed to his colleagues by painting a stark picture of what might happen if they failed to act – a second Great Depression with devastating consequences for their constituents.
In the end, enough Republicans joined with Democrats to pass the bailout package, averting immediate disaster. However, the crisis exposed growing rifts within the Republican Party that would only widen in the years to come.
The Changing Face of the Republican Party
The financial crisis and its aftermath marked a turning point in Republican politics. The party that Boehner had joined in the early 1990s was evolving into something he barely recognized. A new breed of Republican was emerging – one less interested in governing and more focused on disruption and media attention.
These new members, often aligned with the nascent Tea Party movement, were skeptical of compromise and viewed any cooperation with Democrats as a betrayal of conservative principles. Their rise posed significant challenges for party leaders like Boehner, who found it increasingly difficult to maintain party unity and advance a coherent agenda.
The Obama Years
A New Political Landscape
The election of Barack Obama in 2008 ushered in a new era in American politics. For Republicans like Boehner, it presented both challenges and opportunities. As the minority party, they had to find ways to oppose Obama's agenda while also presenting themselves as a credible alternative.
Boehner's role as the Republican leader in the House took on new importance. He had to balance the demands of his more conservative members with the need to appear reasonable and responsible to the broader electorate.
Becoming Speaker of the House
In 2010, the Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives, and Boehner was elected Speaker. This position put him third in line for the presidency and made him the most powerful Republican in Washington.
As Speaker, Boehner faced the daunting task of managing an increasingly fractious Republican caucus while also negotiating with a Democratic president and Senate. He described his job as being the mayor of "Crazytown," a reference to the unpredictable and often extreme positions taken by some of his members.
One of Boehner's first acts as Speaker was to finally ban earmarks, fulfilling a promise he had made years earlier. While this move was popular with fiscal conservatives, it also removed one of the tools that Speakers had traditionally used to build coalitions and pass legislation.
Challenges of Leadership
Boehner's tenure as Speaker was marked by constant battles, both within his own party and with the Obama administration. He found himself caught between the demands of the Tea Party wing, which often pushed for confrontation and government shutdowns, and the need to govern responsibly and avoid economic crises.
Some of the most contentious issues during this period included:
The debt ceiling: Boehner had to navigate several showdowns over raising the debt ceiling, with some Republicans willing to risk government default to extract concessions on spending cuts.
Healthcare reform: The Republican base demanded full repeal of Obama's Affordable Care Act, but Boehner had to contend with the political realities of divided government.
Immigration reform: Boehner's attempts to find a compromise on immigration policy were repeatedly thwarted by hardliners in his own party.
Government shutdowns: The Speaker had to manage several threats of government shutdown, often struggling to find enough votes within his own caucus to keep the government running.
Throughout these challenges, Boehner tried to maintain a pragmatic approach, seeking areas of compromise where possible while also standing firm on core Republican principles. However, this approach increasingly put him at odds with the more ideological members of his party.
The Rise of the "Freak Show"
As Boehner's speakership progressed, he observed a troubling trend in Republican politics. The rise of conservative media figures like Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity gave a platform to the most extreme voices in the party. These influential opinion-makers could make or break political careers and often used their power to promote candidates who prioritized ideological purity over practical governance.
Boehner dubbed this phenomenon the "freak show," lamenting the way it distorted Republican politics and made it increasingly difficult to find common ground or advance meaningful legislation. The constant pressure from these outside voices made it challenging for more moderate or pragmatic Republicans to compromise or work across the aisle.
The Birther Controversy and the Trump Factor
One of the most divisive issues during Obama's presidency was the "birther" conspiracy theory, which falsely claimed that Obama was not born in the United States and was therefore ineligible to be president. While Boehner and other mainstream Republicans rejected these claims, they found it difficult to completely disavow them without alienating a vocal segment of their base.
The birther controversy reached new heights with the emergence of Donald Trump as a political figure. Trump's aggressive promotion of the birther theory and his confrontational style resonated with many Republican voters, even as it alarmed establishment figures like Boehner.
As Trump's influence grew, Boehner found himself increasingly at odds with the direction of the party. The rise of Trump represented a fundamental shift in Republican politics, moving away from the principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility that had defined Boehner's career.
Stepping Down and Reflection
The Decision to Leave
In 2015, after nearly five years as Speaker and facing mounting pressure from within his own party, Boehner made the decision to step down from his position and retire from Congress. The constant battles with the far-right wing of his party had taken their toll, and Boehner felt that he could no longer effectively lead the Republican caucus.
His departure marked the end of an era in Republican politics. Boehner had been a bridge between the Reagan-era conservatism of his youth and the more combative, populist strain that was coming to dominate the party. His inability to reconcile these competing visions ultimately led to his exit from politics.
Looking Back
In reflecting on his career, Boehner expresses a mix of pride in his accomplishments and concern for the future of the Republican Party and American politics more broadly. He takes satisfaction in the reforms he helped implement, such as banning earmarks and exposing corruption in Congress. However, he also worries about the increasing polarization and dysfunction in Washington.
Boehner's memoir serves as both a personal history and a cautionary tale about the state of American democracy. He argues that the rise of extreme voices and the decline of compromise have made it increasingly difficult to govern effectively. The "freak show" that he observed during his later years in Congress has, in his view, come to dominate Republican politics, pushing out more moderate and pragmatic voices.
Lessons and Legacy
The Importance of Relationships
Throughout his career, Boehner emphasized the importance of building relationships across party lines. He credits his early experiences at Andy's Café with teaching him how to connect with people from all walks of life. In Congress, he tried to maintain this approach, often sharing a glass of wine or a round of golf with colleagues from both parties.
Boehner argues that these personal connections are essential for effective governance. The breakdown of these relationships, he believes, has contributed to the gridlock and animosity that characterizes much of modern politics.
Principles vs. Pragmatism
One of the central themes of Boehner's career was the tension between ideological purity and practical governance. As a committed conservative, he believed strongly in limited government, lower taxes, and fiscal responsibility. However, he also recognized the need for compromise and incremental progress in a divided government.
This balancing act became increasingly difficult as the Republican Party shifted further to the right. Boehner's willingness to negotiate with Democrats and find areas of common ground often put him at odds with the more ideological members of his caucus. His experience highlights the challenges of maintaining principled positions while also achieving tangible results in a complex political system.
The Changing Media Landscape
Boehner's career spanned a period of dramatic change in the media landscape. The rise of cable news, talk radio, and later social media transformed the way politicians communicated with their constituents and how political debates were framed.
While these changes offered new opportunities for politicians to reach voters directly, they also contributed to the polarization of political discourse. Boehner observed how the constant need for attention and controversy incentivized extreme positions and made it harder to have nuanced policy discussions.
The Future of the Republican Party
In his memoir, Boehner expresses concern about the direction of the Republican Party in the post-Trump era. He worries that the party has moved away from its traditional principles of limited government and fiscal conservatism, instead embracing a more populist and confrontational approach.
Boehner argues that for the party to remain relevant and effective, it needs to find a way to balance its conservative principles with a more inclusive and pragmatic approach to governance. He calls for a return to the "big tent" philosophy that characterized the Republican Party during the Reagan era.
Conclusion
John Boehner's memoir "On the House" provides a unique perspective on American politics from the late 20th century through the first decades of the 21st century. His journey from a working-class background in Ohio to the highest levels of government offers insights into the changing nature of the Republican Party and the challenges facing American democracy.
Boehner's story is one of both achievement and frustration. He rose to one of the most powerful positions in government, playing a key role in shaping policy and reforming congressional practices. However, he also witnessed and struggled against the forces of polarization and extremism that have come to dominate much of American political discourse.
As a memoir, "On the House" is not just a recounting of political events, but a personal reflection on the nature of leadership, the importance of principle, and the challenges of governing in a divided society. Boehner's candid assessments of his colleagues, his successes, and his failures offer valuable lessons for current and future political leaders.
Ultimately, Boehner's book serves as both a celebration of American democracy and a warning about its fragility. He argues that the ability to disagree respectfully, to find common ground, and to put the interests of the country above partisan gain are essential for the health of the republic. As the political landscape continues to evolve, Boehner's experiences and insights provide a valuable perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing America in the years to come.