Former House Speaker John Boehner officially retired from politics in October.
First elected in the midterm Republican wave in 1994, Boehner played a part in then-Speaker Newt Gingrich’s revolution, then saw his quick rise to the stop falter when he lost his position as chairman of the House Republican Conference in 1998.
Rather than leave Congress, Boehner went to a House education committee, where he helped draft and pass the No Child Left Behind law with Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy as his partner in the upper chamber.
In 2006, Boehner returned to House leadership, then, after Republicans regained control of the House in the 2010 midterms, he became the 61st Speaker of the House.
John Boehner stands with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich at a news conference in 1997.Scott J. Ferrell—Getty ImagesBoehner and George W. Bush during a bill-signing ceremony in Hamilton, Ohio, in 2002.Tim Sloan—AFP/Getty ImagesBoehner introduces George W. Bush during a rally in West Chester, Ohio, in 2004. Stephen Jaffe—AFP/Getty ImagesBoehner after being elected as House Republican leader on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 2, 2006.Alex Wong—Getty ImagesNewly elected as Speaker of the House, Boehner holds a gavel during the opening session of the 112th Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 5, 2011.Tim Sloan—AFP/Getty ImagesBoehner's desk as Speaker.Tim Davis for TIMEBoehner plays golf with President Obama at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland in 2011. Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty ImagesBoehner walks out of a meeting at the U.S. Capitol ahead of a potential government shutdown, in Washington in April 2011.Andrew Cutraro for TIMEBoehner gestures toward President Obama as Joe Biden applauds during the president's State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 28, 2014. Charles Dharapak—APBoehner walks to the House Chamber for a vote on the debt ceiling on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 16, 2013.Alex Wong—Getty ImagesBoehner kisses former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the first session of the 114th Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2015.Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesPope Francis waves to crowd from the balcony of the U.S. Capitol building, after his address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in Washington on Sept. 24, 2015.Evy Mages—Getty ImagesBoehner becomes emotional during his last weekly news conference as Speaker on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 27, 2015. Al Drago—CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
