Former speaker of the House [crscore]John Boehner[/crscore] said he went to Washington to “fight for a smaller, less costly, more accountable government.” But, he said, there was “no winning this fight.” (RELATED: [crscore]Paul Ryan[/crscore] Elected Speaker Of The House)

Appearing on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom” on Friday with Bill Hemmer, Boehner said he “played a role in a fight that’s been going on for over 200 years, over the appropriate size, scope and cost of government.”

Boehner said, “I came here to fight for a smaller, less costly, more accountable government” and after 24 years in the House, he came to the realization that there is “no winning this fight” and that it will be a “constant struggle over how big Washington should be and how much it should take.”

When asked about a grand bargain to reduce the debt and deficit with Barack Obama which, ultimately, did not happen, Boehner said that he, Eric Cantor, and Obama had shook on it in the Oval Office, but Obama “walked away from the agreement.”

Boehner explained: “The deal was done. Over $5 trillion worth of deficit reduction… tens of trillions of dollars over the next 20 years in terms of really fixing our entitlement programs and getting us onto a much more solid foundation.”

Boehner insisted that he was “shocked” when Obama walked away, and the “country went through a lot more than we needed to.”

However, Boehner said that he and the president still had a good relationship. When Boehner announced his retirement, Obama called him and said that he was going to miss him. Boehner replied, “Yes you are, Mr. President, yes you are.”

Boehner fully acknowledged calling fellow Republicans “knuckleheads,” “false profits,” and “jackasses,” but he said the relationship “wasn’t any more difficult than any of the other leaders have had to deal with.” (RELATED: John Boehner Calls [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] A ‘Jackass’ At Fundraiser)

Boehner explained that if you “do the right thing for the right reasons, good things are going to happen. And if they didn’t want to come to the party, fine, I’ll go find the votes somewhere else.”

When asked about his proudest moment as speaker, Boehner didn’t hesitate to answer that it was Pope Francis’s visit to speak in front of a joint session of Congress.

Boehner, who was speaker of the House for almost five years, said his biggest regret was the failure of the grand bargain: “No ifs, ands, or buts about it.”

Hemmer asked Boehner if he could choose to enact immigration reform, repeal Obamacare, or pass the grand bargain, what would it be? Boehner said he would choose the grand bargain “by far,” because it “would have really meant a lot for our economy.”

Boehner said he “never had one doubt” about his decision to retire and that it was the “right decision, it was the right time.”

“I don’t have any doubt that God put me in this job and I don’t have any doubt that God just eased me right out of this job. It was pretty smooth. Good job Big Guy.”

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