Who is John Boehner's wife Debbie? Former House Speaker once called her most down-to-earth person

May 2024 · 4 minute read

Former House Speaker John Andrew Boehner is making headlines for the past few days for two reasons -- his book ‘On The House: A Washington Memoir’ is coming soon and second, his constant feud with Ted Cruz. Speaking with host Bret Baier during ‘Special Report’ on Tuesday, April 13, while promoting his book, the 71-year-old said, “The guy was always stirring up trouble with some of the knuckleheads in my caucus.”

He added that most of his relationships with Republican colleagues were good during his time at Capitol Hill, and said there were around “30 of them that weren't conservative -- I'm a conservative Republican -- they were knuckleheads and Ted Cruz came over and kept winding them up to do crazy things that have never had a chance of becoming law. All you will do is cause problems and so over the years, I’ve just decided, screw Ted Cruz.”

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Cruz also did not deter himself from showing his hatred towards John as he shared a picture of his book in his Senate office fireplace. The caption of the Twitter post read, “Some smart-a** dropped off a copy of Boehner’s new book at my office. It’s even signed! I filed it in the appropriate place.”

Who are John Boehner and his wife Debbie Boehner?

John was the 52nd House Speaker of the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. After four years of his tenure, he had to resign from the office because of opposition from within the GOP caucus. Prior to being the House Speaker, the father-of-two also was the House Minority Leader from 2007 until 2011, and House Majority Leader from 2006 to 2007. Currently, he is working as a board member of Reynolds American, the second-largest tobacco company in the United States.

John has been married to Debbie since 1973. They are the parents of two daughters -- Lindsay and Tricia. When the Republican was chosen as the House Speaker in 2011, his wife told the New York Times that they are “just normal, average people.” At the time, the 72-year-old was a part-time cashier, who had no plans to move to Washington. Debbie said, “I’m just me, I’m just approachable, I’m not going to change.” John added, “She’s about the most down-to-earth person you’ll ever meet.”

“His job is to do this job, and I’m just going to do whatever I can to stay out of the way. I just live the life at home that he would be living if he was there,” she added at the time.

Debbie also mentioned in the New York Times interview that she was “not a frivolous person” and she comfortably wore a $100 Dillard’s dress to meet the Queen of England in 2007. “I was in a room with people who buy $10,000 gowns, and I can’t do that kind of stuff. Would I wear it again? Probably not. It worked. It was fine,” she noted.

Debbie’s LinkedIn page now states that she is a real estate agent at Huff Realty in Olde West Chester, Ohio. Reports also said she graduated from Mount Healthy High School and the University of Cincinnati. She met John while at university.

Once a bartender, identified as Michael Robert Hoyt, who thought of himself as Jesus and John as the Devil, sent an email to Debbie, saying: “I could have poisoned his wine at Wetherington many, many times.” When she asked what he wanted, Hoyt -- who was later indicted and charged with threatening to kill John in 2015 -- replied, “Mrs. Boehner, I was fired. I could not email Mr. Boehner directly because of the zip code block on his email. It doesn’t matter anyway. If he took a real interest in anything he would insure his Club was better than the Country, but they are exactly the same and life goes on SSDD. Sincerely, Mike. Mike, your former bartender.”

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