House Speaker John Boehner is once again front and center today, holding on to his speakership in the 113th Congress despite some Republican Party infighting that led up to the vote.
The spotlight is a familiar role for Boehner, the Ohio congressman who has spent more than two decades in the House of Representatives and currently leads one of the most divided caucuses in recent memory.
But Boehner is more than just your average Beltway political hack. Here's a look at the path that got him to the top of Capitol Hill.
He got his start working at his father's bar in Ohio.
Boehner's parents were Democrats and owned a bar in Reading, Ohio, where the future congressman worked with his 12 siblings.
In high school, Boehner played linebacker under future Notre Dame University coach Gerry Faust. After graduating, he enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War, but was discharged eight weeks later because of a bad back.
Boehner spent seven years at Xavier College before graduating, because he had to pay his own way through school. While he was working one of his multiple jobs — as a night shift janitor at a chemical plant — he met his future wife Debbie, who worked in customer service at the company.
Boehner graduated with a degree in business administration. He earned a sales job at Nucite Sales, a plastics distribution company, and went on to run the company after the owner died.
He made his first foray into politics during the early 1980s, as a trustee for Union Township in southeastern Ohio. He was first elected to the Ohio state legislature in 1985.
Source: Biography.com, New York Times
In 1990, he picked off a vulnerable incumbent and was elected to Congress.
In his first congressional election in 1990, Boehner beat Democratic incumbent Donald Lukens handily, after Lukens was accused of paying an underage girl for sex.
Boehner and six other freshman congressman — including future Pennsylvania Senator and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum — formed The Gang Of Seven, which rallied against corruption in the House.
The group exposed the House banking scandal, uncovering several House members who had welshed on money owed to the House Bank.
Source: Biography.com
Boehner was a key ally of Newt Gingrich.
Boehner served as a pivotal ally to Gingrich during Gingrich's rocky tenure as Speaker, and was involved in the authoring of Gingrich's Contract with America.
Specifically, Boehner helped author the Congressional Accountability Act, an aspect of Gingrich's Contract with America. It forced Congress to comply with several specific laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and other laws.
Source: Official Bio,Office of Compliance
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