“I didn’t come here to be a congressman,” he said on the House floor during a discussion about the Iraq War in May 2007. “I came here to do something,” he continued, voice quivering. “And I think the top of our list is providing for the safety and security of the American people. That’s at the top of our list!”

At the unveiling the Ronald Reagan statue in Statuary Hall in the Capitol building in June 2009, Politico reported: “SPOTTED: Minority leader and avid crier Rep. John Boehner “‘fully wipping eyes during 'America the Beautiful,”’ we’re told, which was sung by the Army chorus today at the Ronald Reagan statue unveiling in Statuary Hall.”

Boehner’s rise to power may mean that the political climate is now kinder to a candidate of, say, Phil Davison’s caliber and emotional disposition. Boehner-Davidson in 2012? Sorry, we mean, BOEHNER-DAVIDSON IN 2012?!

See also: “John Boehner’s Early American Foundations.”