Boehner says tearful goodbye
WASHINGTON — After five turbulent years at the helm of the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner knew exactly how to say goodbye.
Giving his last speech to the House on Thursday, he first paused, then lifted up a box of tissues to display to the crowd.
Fellow Republicans and opposition Democrats roared in laughter as Boehner turned over the gavel to Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Boehner, known for his public tears, is nothing if not well aware of his foibles. He has, at times, embraced them.
“I leave the way I started,” he told the House. “Just a regular guy, humbled by the chance to do a big job. That’s what I’m most proud of — that I’m still just me.”
He left proud, he said, of making “real entitlement reforms,” of protecting 99 percent of Americans from tax increases and on making “the most significant spending reductions in modern history.”
“I am proud of these things,” he said, “but the mission is not complete, and the truth is, it may never be … freedom makes all things possible. But patience is what makes all things real.”
After five years in which Democrats, Republicans and hard-line conservatives often gave him plenty of trouble, Boehner received an affectionate farewell.
House members laughed at his jokes. They applauded him warmly. And when his speech concluded, they gave him a standing ovation that lasted more than two minutes.
“I leave with no regrets, no burdens,” he said.
Boehner will submit formal resignation letters to his successor, Ryan, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. His resignation will take effect at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday. A special election will be held to fill his House seat.
Boehner, 65, wrestled with the timing of this decision, but once he made it — on Sept. 25, the day after Pope Francis’ historic visit to the Capitol — he has been ready for the next chapter.
The House Republican Conference bought the avid golfer a golf cart. His Ohio GOP colleagues bought him a set of clubs. He has no plans yet but likely will split his time between Washington, his home in West Chester and a condo in Florida.
On Thursday, he talked about his roots in a very different home — the small house at the top of a hill “just off the main drag in Reading, Ohio” where his life was “a chase for the American dream.”
His father was a bar owner. He was one of a dozen kids. He worked at his dad’s bar on Saturdays from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. He was paid $2 – “total.” He’s been earning a paycheck since he was “8 or 9.” The last 25 of those years, he’s been in Congress.
And on Thursday, he finally stopped working.
“We are the luckiest people on the face of the Earth,” he said. “In America, you can do anything if you’re willing to work hard and make the necessary sacrifices.
“If you falter, and you will, you can just dust yourself off and keep on going.”
Then he sat in the speaker’s chair for the last time as members overwhelmingly elected Ryan, a onetime Boehner campaign volunteer, as his successor. Every Democrat in Ohio’s House delegation voted for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Every Republican in the state’s House delegation voted for Ryan.
Boehner was the last to vote. When his name was called, he yelled out Ryan’s name in a loud, clear voice.
Then he waited to greet the next speaker of the House before slowly making his way down the aisle to the back of the chamber.
He stopped frequently to say goodbye to colleagues. Reps. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, and Joyce Beatty, D-Jefferson Township, crossed from the Democrat side of the floor to say farewell. He took hugs and kisses to the cheek and then stood at the back of the chamber.
And this time, he wasn’t the only one on the House floor wiping his eyes.