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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