Telegraph on Boehner: “Classic Up-By-The-Bootstraps Tale of the American Dream”

The London Daily Telegraph took a look at Congressman Boehner’s humble roots, saying John’s background is the “classic up-by-the-bootstraps tale of the American Dream.” They wrote:

“Mr Boehner’s life story is the type of classic up-by-the-bootstraps tale of the American Dream that can put a tear in a voter’s eye. As his story becomes better known, the Democrats could even be drawing favourable attention upon him. Right now, most Americans have never heard of Mr Boehner, and fewer still can pronounce his name, which rhymes with Rayner. The alleged elitist country club Republican is an Ohio Congressman who grew up in near poverty.

“His sister Lynda Meineke, who is 51, is a waitress and bar tender at Andy’s Cafe in Carthage, Ohio, a family business that was founded by their grandfather Andy Boehner in 1938. As a child, one of Mr Boehner’s jobs was to mop the floor.

“Sitting outside the bar this week, sipping a bottle of Bud Light and smoking a cigarette, Mrs Meineke described her childhood as ‘cramped’ but happy. ‘We learned how to share. If there was a toy, it wasn’t just for you but for all the younger ones.’

“Mr Boehner, 61, is the second of 12 who grew up in a German-Irish family in Reading, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati. All but two of them still live within a few miles of each other. Two are unemployed and most of the others have blue-collar jobs.

“The future Congressman started work as a janitor and took seven years to get his degree – the first in the family to do so – because he had several jobs to pay his way. He joined a plastics and packaging company, rising to president before entering local politics by being elected to the town board. …

“Mrs Meineke said that at family gatherings at Andy’s Bar Mr Boehner’s nephews were more impressed by his Secret Service guards than the Congressman himself. ‘You see how he talks to Obama. He tells it how it is, right there in black and white. If all they can find on him is that he plays golf and he has a tan, well, whatever.’”

Read the whole Telegraph profile here. The piece implicitly criticizes recent White House attacks on Boehner as Democrats try to portray him as something other than the hard-working former small businessman – and Congressional reformer – that he’s known to be.

MSNBC’s Luke Russert also took a road trip to southwest Ohio to learn more about Congressman Boehner and his “humble beginnings.” You can watch that segment here. And if you’d like to get involved in John’s campaign to help small businesses create new jobs by cutting government spending, stopping the tax hikes, and more, join the Boehner Campaigners today.

READ MORE:

• MSNBC Looks at Boehner’s Humble Beginnings (9/13/10)

Read the original story at John Boehner for Congres