John A. Boehner (R-Ohio)

In one infamous moment, he distributed checks from tobacco lobbyists to other GOP lawmakers on the House floor.

Boehner also has a flare for the dramatic. In summer 2008, he led a Republican rebellion over the House's reluctance to vote on a comprehensive energy package. In the weeks after Congress went on its summer recess, Republicans returned to Washington from all over the country to deliver floor speeches in a darkened chamber on the importance of off-shore oil drilling, which the GOP insisted would significantly lower gas prices.

The Economy

Boehner and House Republicans decided to take a risky stand against popular President Obama when they unanimously opposed the new president's $787 billion economic stimulus package approved in February 2009.

"This bill is supposed to be about jobs, jobs, jobs, and it's turned into nothing more than spend, spend, spend," Boehner said.

In fall 2008, Boehner accepted President George W. Bush's $700 financial bailout plan as unpalatable but necessary.He thought his rank-and-file members would do the same.

But House Minority Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), with whom Boehner has long been rumored to have tense relations, and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) proposed an alternative plan that quickly became a rallying cry for House GOPers who objected to such massive government intervention in the economy. At a White House meeting, Boehner tried to craft a compromise by proposing federal insurance on mortgage assets combined with tax cuts on all investment gains. The suggestion was literally shouted down by other attendees.

Many Republicans demanded that the final plan include federal insurance for high-risk mortgages.

Ultimately, Boehner was able to convince enough Republicans to vote with him on the legislation, and kept his leadership post in spite of his role in the bailout vote.

Education

As House Education and the Workforce Committee chairman, Boehner passed a No Child Left Behind bill that included both accountability measures and annual student testing, and extra funding for the poorest school districts.

He shepherded the bill through one of the most partisan House committees by forming an alliance with then-ranking Democrat Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), whom he invited to early meetings on the education overhaul with President Bush. But Boehner opposes extending No Child standards to high schools.

In 2003 and 2004, Boehner helped pass a controversial special-education measure. The law retained requirements that disabilities be taken into account when disciplining students, increased certification funds for schools and withheld state funds if local school districts didn't comply. He also agreed to discretionary increases in spending for special-education funding through 2011.

Boehner worked to pass the Higher Education Act reauthorization, though it didn't make it to President Bush's desk until long after he had given up his chairmanship.

Health-Care Reform

Boehner was a major Republican voice in the 2009 health-care debate. He spearheaded the House Republican effort to oppose the creation of a government health-insurance plan.

Boehner and House Republicans stalled the Democratic legislation for more than a year, and helped promote a populist outcry against what they dubbed a "government takeover" of health care.

Despite their best efforts, the House passed the Senate version of health-care reform without any Republican votes on March 21, 2010, clearing the way for the Senate to approve a package of amendments insisted on by the lower chamber with a simple majority (using a process known as reconciliation).

The $940 billion bill requires most Americans to carry health insurance and requires that insurance companies cover them, regardless of pre-existing conditions. It establishes a national insurance exchange allowing Americans to compare and purchase insurance plans. The bill will be paid for by increasing taxes on well-off Medicare recipients and by taxing premium insurance plans. By the end of the bill's 10-year roll-out, 32 million uninsured Americans will have health coverage and the deficit will be $138 billion lower, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.

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