--- title: John Boehner Is Thankful He Dodged the Presidential Election description: Former House Speaker John Boehner said in a new interview that he’s thankful he dodged the spectacle that was the 2016 presidential election canonical: https://time.com/4594332/john-boehner-presidential-election/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-07T20:18:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:47.420Z article:section: Politics og:title: John Boehner Is Glad He Dodged the 2016 Presidential Election og:description: "Every day I'd watch it and was like, 'Thank God I'm not in the middle of this'" og:url: https://time.com/4594332/john-boehner-presidential-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5255db726670e084/6988b22dab6d771db86ac2ff/john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: John Boehner Holds Media Briefing At The Capitol og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Boehner Is Glad He Dodged the 2016 Presidential Election twitter:description: "Every day I'd watch it and was like, 'Thank God I'm not in the middle of this'" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5255db726670e084/6988b22dab6d771db86ac2ff/john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Boehner Is Happy He Dodged the Presidential Election: 'Thank God I'm Not in the Middle of This' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f7355304-4584-4b30-8feb-ce0080748d79&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 7, 2016 8:18 PM UTC  John Boehner departs a press conference Dec. 12, 2013 in Washington, DC. John Boehner departs a press conference Dec. 12, 2013 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Dec 7, 2016 8:18 PM UTC [Former House Speaker John Boehner](http://time.com/4495045/john-boehner-reynolds-american-tobacco/) said in a [new interview](http://www.wcpo.com/longform/john-boehner-on-donald-trump-and-politics-thank-god-im-not-in-the-middle-of-this) that he’s thankful he dodged the spectacle that was the 2016 presidential election. Boehner officially [resigned](http://time.com/4049977/john-boehner-resigns/) from his post in late October, a few months after Donald Trump announced his run for the White House. He told Cincinnati’s WCPO in an exclusive interview that it was a good move. “Every day I’d watch it and was like, ‘Thank God I’m not in the middle of this,'” he said. “It was the most bizarre political year that we’ve seen in 100 years.” Boehner added that he doesn’t regret his decision to quit, even though the former Ohio lawmaker was emotional and wiped away tears during a news conference announcing his resignation. “There’s nothing I would change about when I left or how I left,” he told WCPO. \[[_WCPO_](http://www.wcpo.com/longform/john-boehner-on-donald-trump-and-politics-thank-god-im-not-in-the-middle-of-this)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4594332/john-boehner-presidential-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4594332/john-boehner-presidential-election/"},"headline":"John Boehner Is Happy He Dodged the Presidential Election: 'Thank God I'm Not in the Middle of This'","datePublished":"2016-12-07T20:18:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:44:47.420Z","description":"\"Every day I'd watch it and was like, 'Thank God I'm not in the middle of this'\"","url":"https://time.com/4594332/john-boehner-presidential-election/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5255db726670e084/6988b22dab6d771db86ac2ff/john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5255db726670e084/6988b22dab6d771db86ac2ff/john-boehner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Boehner Holds Media Briefing At The Capitol","caption":"John Boehner departs a press conference Dec. 12, 2013 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4594332/john-boehner-presidential-election/","name":"John Boehner Is Happy He Dodged the Presidential Election: 'Thank God I'm Not in the Middle of This'"}}]}] ```