John Andrew Boehner is the current Speaker of the House in the United States of America. He has had the coveted position for just a few months and is the sixty first person to do so. He acted as the republican Minority Leader of the house before that and has been in politics since the early nineties. Behind the Vice President, his current role makes him the second in line for the US’s presidency.
John was born the second of twelve children in Reading, Ohio. He and his eleven siblings grew up sharing one bathroom and two bedrooms while his parents slept in the living room. At age eight, he began working at the family bar that his grandfather founded.
In high school he played football and after graduation, enlisted in the United State’s Navy. Even though the war in Vietnam was at its height, Boehner only served eight weeks or so due to his bad back. He was honorably discharged and then went to earn a business degree from Xavier University.
John’s political career began in 1982 when began serving on Ohio’s Butler County board of trustees. In 1985 he started a five year term as an Ohio state representative.
In 1990 he ran for the House of Representatives against an incumbent candidate and won. During his freshman year in the House, Boehner and a small group of other reps, collectively known as the Gang of Seven, effectively put a stop to a number of detrimental activities such as dine and dashing and banking frauds within the House.
After the election of George Bush, he was appointed chairman of the House’s Education and Work Committee where he penned a number of education bills. One was the District of Columbia’s school voucher system for poorer students. The politician was also a major force in the “No Student Left Behind” failure of 2001. In mid 2010, John’s office stated they were enraged about a religious themed display in the Smithsonian’s museum. They have made it clear they consider the display offensive and want it cancelled.
On September 17, of 2010 he was unanimously selected by the reps in the US House to be their Speaker. The following year, after congress and their majority met, he was sworn in. John is the first to be from Ohio since the early thirties and the first ever since the 1960s to do so after being both leaders. John is still currently the leader of all Republicans but traditionally does not vote or participate in debates.
Learn more about the United States of America’s current Speaker of the House now in our guide to all you need to know about Boehner .
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