--- title: John Boehner Joins Board of Second-Largest Tobacco Company description: He was a top tobacco recipient while in Congress canonical: https://time.com/4495045/john-boehner-reynolds-american-tobacco/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-15T14:52:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:10:17.658Z article:section: Politics og:title: John Boehner Joins Board of Second-Largest Tobacco Company og:description: He was a top tobacco recipient while in Congress og:url: https://time.com/4495045/john-boehner-reynolds-american-tobacco/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a40e9a45dd5a3c7/6988a633196cf488c903d380/john-boehner-reynolds-american-board-tobacco-us-house-representatives.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Key Speakers At The 2016 SALT Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Boehner Joins Board of Second-Largest Tobacco Company twitter:description: He was a top tobacco recipient while in Congress twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a40e9a45dd5a3c7/6988a633196cf488c903d380/john-boehner-reynolds-american-board-tobacco-us-house-representatives.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Boehner Has a New Role at America's Second-Largest Tobacco Company by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Sep 15, 2016 2:52 PM UTC  John Boehner, former U.S. House Speaker, speaks during the Skybridge Alternatives (SALT) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on May 12, 2016. John Boehner, former U.S. House Speaker, speaks during the Skybridge Alternatives (SALT) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on May 12, 2016.Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Sep 15, 2016 2:52 PM UTC John Boehner has found a new job. The former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has been elected to serve on the board of directors of Reynolds American, the parent corporation of the country’s second-largest tobacco company. Reynolds American [announced the move](http://www.reynoldsamerican.com/About-Us/Press-Releases/Press-Release-Details-/2016/RAI-board-elects-two-new-directors/default.aspx) Thursday in a news release, in which it also said Jean-Marc Levy, an executive-in-residence at the IMD Business School in Switzerland would join its board. The company owns cigarette brands like Newport, Camel, Pall Mall and Natural American Spirit. Boehner, who [resigned](http://time.com/4049977/john-boehner-resigns/) the speakership and his seat in Congress last fall amid pressure from more conservative House members, will serve on Reynolds American’s corporate governance, nominating and sustainability committees. The new role makes sense for Boehner, who is a smoker and was among the [top recipients](http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cid=N00003675&cycle=2010) of campaign donations from the tobacco industry while in Congress. In the 2010 election cycle, for example, he received nearly $50,000 from people and PACs associated with tobacco companies, according to the [Center for Responsive Politics](http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/06/tobacco-companies-adjusting-strategies/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4495045/john-boehner-reynolds-american-tobacco/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4495045/john-boehner-reynolds-american-tobacco/"},"headline":"John Boehner Has a New Role at America's Second-Largest Tobacco Company","datePublished":"2016-09-15T14:52:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:10:17.658Z","description":"He was a top tobacco recipient while in Congress","url":"https://time.com/4495045/john-boehner-reynolds-american-tobacco/","keywords":["tobacco","John Boehner"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a40e9a45dd5a3c7/6988a633196cf488c903d380/john-boehner-reynolds-american-board-tobacco-us-house-representatives.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a40e9a45dd5a3c7/6988a633196cf488c903d380/john-boehner-reynolds-american-board-tobacco-us-house-representatives.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Key Speakers At The 2016 SALT Conference","caption":"John Boehner, former U.S. House Speaker, speaks during the Skybridge Alternatives (SALT) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on May 12, 2016.","creditText":"Paul Morris—Bloomberg/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":"https://time.com/4495045/john-boehner-reynolds-american-tobacco/","name":"John Boehner Has a New Role at America's Second-Largest Tobacco Company"}}]}] ```