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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Friday, May 21, 2021

A Leader Without Followers

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner is unassuming in On the House: A Washington Memoir. He promises that the book will not be “another boring drag through Washington’s ‘halls of power.’” “If you’re looking for Shakespeare, or my 15-point plan to save the world, this isn’t the book for you,” he writes. This will be a book about real politics, filled with interesting personal stories, rather than instruction in public policy or political theory.

On the House, for the most part, delivers on this opening promise. It is a folksy, breezy read that I completed in two or three sittings of a couple hours. And it is engaging, at least until the final three chapters, which consist of trite discussions of Boehner’s relationships with lobbyists and the media and mildly interesting but ultimately forgettable stories of foreign travels. Before then, there are a few perplexing detours (such as an encomium to his high school football coach and Gerald Ford) interspersed with genuinely entertaining stories about what really goes on in Washington.  .............To Read More....

 

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