Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Boehner may be wealthy and well-connected now, but he’s got a no-frills narrative style that reflects his working class roots. This is a good thing, making “On the House” an easy and fairly gossipy, fairly enjoyable read. Starting with the cover photo, merlot in hand, he reminds you of the local head of the Chamber of Commerce who's good enough with people that he winds up in Washington as the second in line to the president. Boehner's negativity toward some of the most influential Democrats (Pelosi and Obama foremost among them) could be expected, because he has no feeling for Democrats’ causes (see how he writes about Obamacare, e.g.) He came from a working class Democratic family but admits he became a Reagan Republican (just like Reagan became a Republican) because he’d worked his way up from a salesman in a small plastics company to the company president and didn’t like the government taking so much of his money in taxes. (One of the surprises of this book for me was how interesting his childhood was--growing up as one of 12 children—in a house where girls had one bedroom; boys had the other and the parents slept on the couch. He spent Saturdays with his eldest brother—both kids—working in their father’s local bar. Whatever one thinks of Boehner's politics, coming from those humble beginnings to being elected 13 times to represent Ohio’s 8th district in Congress--and holding a variety of leadership positions, including Speaker--is pretty impressive. Of course most of the book is about his experiences in Congress. He compares Bill Clinton to Eddie Haskell, loved Ted Kennedy--includes a good GWB story about the three of them working together on No Child Left Behind--was friends with Gerald Ford, and got along great with Biden. He helped the Freedom Caucus get elected, then watched them turn on him. Jim Jordan represents the worst of them, in his opinion, a grandstander and naysayer who never wants to get anything actually done. Boehner –really- hates Ted Cruz—another Freedom Caucus-type, obructionist and self-promoter without peer. He calls Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh” and, apparently in the audiobook version directs some profanity at him that you can’t put in print editions.) A lot of his early years in Congress may not be of great interest to people who weren’t around during the Clinton years (Boehner admits that the impeachment was a mistake, done just to try to win a majority in the House). He tells of an early encounter with Trump—golfing together—where Boehner observes his infamous temper. (He also notes that he never once thought “this man will be president one day”.) Some commentators have criticized him for helping to elect the Tea Party and Freedom Caucus that led to MAGA. But Boehner did try to get things done for Republicans. He may have inadvertently contributed to the rise of what he calls “Crazytown”, but at least he doesn’t endorse it. In fact, he repudiates Trump and Trumpism, writing of the events of Jan 6th: “ Trump incited that bloody insurrection for nothing more than selfish reasons, perpetuated by the (b....) he’d been shoveling since he lost a fair election the previous November. He claimed voter fraud without any evidence...taking advantage of the trust placed in him by his supporters and ultimately betraying that trust....some of the (House and Senate) people involved did not surprise me in the least. The legislative terrorism that I’d witnessed as Speaker had now encouraged actual terrorism.” Boehner’s rise through traditional Republican politics (like Ford and Reagan before him)—now makes them all seem like relics of the past, part of a party that is no longer identifiable. Boehner says neither he nor Reagan would be elected today. (His comments about the role of Roger Ailes and Fox News are also very telling.) He’s not about offering solutions or predictions, but the transformation of the GOP that forms the backdrop for his career--and its future--is definitely something Americans across party lines should be thinking about.