John Boehner: His Legislative History and Legacy as Speaker

The linked NBC article is a most thoughtful and balanced treatment of John Boehner's tenure as Speaker of the House. From his history as an effective deal maker and legislator both within his party and across the aisle, to negotiator of the "grand bargain" with the President to avoid the 2011 debt ceiling disaster--then only to be abandoned in that effort and humiliated by the Tea Party conservatives, who have largely defined his captive role as Speaker ever since. But the realities and threatening implications of today's political dysfunction, largely a result of his Tea Party-dictated role as Speaker, render him an enigmatic, almost tragic figure.

Link to article above and below:
John Boehner’s legacy on the line in shutdown