How the Numbers Failed the Leaders

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), left, and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), center, head for a news conference after the House rejected the $700 billion financial rescue proposal. (By Chip Somodevilla -- Getty Images)

Pelosi pleaded with members of the Congressional Black Caucus who had voted against the bill, including Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.). Neither Lewis or Jackson would budge.

A dejected Boehner huddled with Hoyer, Blunt and Emanuel, who delivered a possible deal. If Blunt could round up a handful of GOP votes, Democrats could do the rest.

But Boehner couldn't find enough, and he said it wasn't his style to "break arms."

Lawmakers ran out of time; no more votes could be found. A few of them switched their votes to no, making the final vote 228-205.

With the market nosediving nearly 800 points, aides in Boehner's office were fielding calls from people furious that the bill had failed. It was just over the weekend that the office had been taking calls from constituents pushing for the bill's defeat.

Boehner said that, given what lawmakers were up against, "it's really amazing we got as many votes as we got."

Staff writer Anne E. Kornblut contributed to this report.