Home Books On the House: A Washington Memoir

On the House: A Washington Memoir

On the House: A Washington Memoir

by John Boehner

Thomas Dunne Books ·2021 ·304 pages ·Memoir
Maybe Someday
Maybe Someday
I Index
44/99
Maybe Someday

27/99

Critics

Near the Top

60/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

2/99

Rating

52/99

Volume

40/99

Rating

80/99

Volume

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About This Book

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner shares candid tales from the halls of power, the smoke-filled rooms around the halls of power, and his fabled tour bus. John Boehner is, in many ways, the last of a breed. At a time when the arbiters of American culture were obsessing over organic kale, cold-pressed juice and Soul-Cycling, the man who stood second in line to the presidency was unapologetically smoking Camels, quaffing a glass of red and hitting the golf course whenever he could. There could hardly have been a more diametrically opposed figure to represent the opposition party in President Barack Obama's Washington. But when Boehner announced his resignation, President Obama called to tell the outgoing Speaker that he'd miss him. "Mr. President," Boehner replied, "yes you will." He thought of himself as a "regular guy with a big job," and he enjoyed it. In addition to stories from the halls of power and of his comeback after getting knocked off the leadership ladder, Boehner will also offer his impressions of other leaders he's met and what made them successes or failures, from Ford, Reagan and Thatcher to Obama and McCain to Trump. He'll share his views on how the Republican Party has become unrecognizable today, his advice—some harsh, some fatherly—dished out to members of the media, and his acid-tongued comments about his former colleagues in the house. And, of course he'll talk about golfing with five presidents. Through this honest and self-aware reflections, you'll be reminded of a time when the adults were firmly in charge.


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Reviews

"It's refreshing to read a memoir with a politician's honest accountings of repeated failures rather than self-inflated successes."

Susan Davis· NPR Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Most important, Boehner doesn't acknowledge the role that his generation of Republicans played in building the bridge from Ronald Reagan's era to our current times ..."

Julian E. Zelizer· The New York Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"As with barstool tales, however, you might be left wondering what it all adds up to."

CHRIS MEGERIAN· Los Angeles Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"There's an odd and poignant disconnect between the book's tone and its unsettling subtext."

Kathy Kiely· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"He fails to acknowledge the distinction, although he insists repeatedly that he agreed with their stated goals ..."

Barton Swaim· The Wall Street Journal Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

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