--- title: John Boehner Gave Nancy Pelosi Chocolate for Birthday During Lent description: John Boehner gave Nancy Pelosi chocolate for her birthday even though she gave it up for Lent. canonical: https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-26T22:31:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:14.092Z og:title: Boehner Gives Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday Even Though She Gave It Up for Lent og:description: Maybe it's the thought that counts? og:url: https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Boehner Gives Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday Even Though She Gave It Up for Lent twitter:description: Maybe it's the thought that counts? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # John Boehner Gave Nancy Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday, Which Is a Bummer 'Cause She Gave It Up for Lent  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 26, 2014 10:31 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 26, 2014 10:31 PM UTC It’s hard enough to give up a favorite food during Lent, but it’s even harder when someone sends you a lot of it. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) sent Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) pints of chocolate gelato for her birthday today. “Here’s hoping — and guessing — you didn’t give up chocolate for Lent,” says a letter addressed from Boehner. She posted the present on Instagram: Indeed, the Congresswoman did give up chocolate, _The Huffington Post_‘s Jennifer Bendery tweeted yesterday: Pelosi informed a few of us she gave up chocolate for Lent. How's it going, I asked. "Terrible. I'm dying." — Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) [March 25, 2014](https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/448559961812250624?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) It’s no secret on the Hill that Pelosi is a chocoholic. She [credited](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/pelosis-secret-weapon-in-health-care-debate-chocolate/?%5Fphp=true&%5Ftype=blogs&%5Fr=0) Ghirardelli chocolate squares for getting her through the health care debate in 2010\. “I knew I loved my husband when I said I would give up chocolate for him,” she [told](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/nancy-pelosi-chocolate%5Fn%5F1811217.html) that same _Huffington Post’s_ Bendery in 2012\. “But I also knew he loved me because he’d never ask me to do such a thing.” **WATCH:** [John Boehner on How to Pronounce His Name](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/27/john-boehner-finally-clears-up-the-confusion-about-how-to-pronounce-his-name/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/"},"headline":"John Boehner Gave Nancy Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday, Which Is a Bummer 'Cause She Gave It Up for Lent","datePublished":"2014-03-26T22:31:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:14.092Z","description":"Maybe it's the thought that counts?","url":"https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/39485/john-boehner-gave-nancy-pelosi-chocolate-for-her-birthday-which-is-a-bummer-cause-she-gave-it-up-for-lent/","name":"John Boehner Gave Nancy Pelosi Chocolate for Her Birthday, Which Is a Bummer 'Cause She Gave It Up for Lent"}}]}] ```