Paul Ryan Speaker of the House
When did he run for speaker of the house?
When did Paul Ryan begin his run for Speaker of the House?
On October 8, 2015, a push by congressional Republicans to recruit Ryan to run to succeed John Boehner as Speaker of the House was initiated. Boehner had recently announced his resignation and stated his support for Kevin McCarthy to be his replacement, which received wide support among Republicans, including Ryan, who was set to officially nominate him. McCarthy withdrew his name from consideration on October 8 when it was apparent that the Freedom Caucus, a caucus of staunchly conservative House Republicans, would not support him. This led many Republicans to turn to Ryan as a compromise candidate. The push included a plea from Boehner, who reportedly told Ryan that he was the only person who could unite the House Republicans at a time of turmoil. Ryan released a statement that said, "While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate." But on October 9, close aides of Ryan confirmed that Ryan had reconsidered, and was considering the possibility of a run. Ryan confirmed on October 22 that he would seek the speakership after receiving the endorsements of two factions of House Republicans, including the conservative Freedom Caucus. Ryan, upon confirming his bid for the speakership, stated, "I never thought I'd be speaker. But I pledged to you that if I could be a unifying figure, then I would serve -- I would go all in. After talking with so many of you, and hearing your words of encouragement, I believe we are ready to move forward as one, united team. And I am ready and eager to be our speaker." On October 29, Ryan was elected Speaker with 236 votes. He is the youngest Speaker since James G. Blaine in 1875. CANNOTANSWER
On October 8, 2015, a push by congressional Republicans to recruit Ryan to run to succeed John Boehner as Speaker of the House was initiated.
Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American retired politician who served as the 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from October 2015 to January 2019. He was the 2012 Republican Party vice presidential nominee running alongside Mitt Romney, losing to incumbent president Barack Obama and then-vice president Joe Biden.

Ryan, a native of Janesville, Wisconsin, graduated from Miami University in 1992. He spent five years working for Republicans in Washington, D.C. and returned to Wisconsin in 1997 to work at his family's construction company. Ryan was elected to Congress to represent  the following year, replacing an incumbent Republican who ran for U.S. Senate. Ryan would represent the district for 20 years. He chaired the House Budget Committee from 2011 to 2015 and briefly chaired the House Ways and Means Committee in 2015 prior to being elected Speaker of the House in October 2015 following John Boehner's retirement.

A self-proclaimed deficit hawk, Ryan was a major proponent of Social Security privatization in the mid-2000s. In the 2010s, two proposals heavily influenced by Ryan—"The Path to Prosperity" and "A Better Way"—advocated for the privatization of Medicare, the conversion of Medicaid into a block grant program, the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and significant federal tax cuts. As Speaker, he played a key role in the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act in 2018, which partially repealed the Dodd-Frank Act. His other major piece of legislation, the American Health Care Act of 2017, passed the House but failed in the Senate by one vote.

Ryan declined to run for re-election in the 2018 midterm elections. With the Democratic Party taking control of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi succeeded Ryan as Speaker of the House.

Early life and education
Paul Davis Ryan was born on January 29, 1970 in Janesville, Wisconsin, the youngest of four children of Elizabeth "Betty" Ann (née Hutter), who later became an interior designer, and Paul Murray Ryan, a lawyer. He is a fifth-generation Wisconsinite. His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother of German and English descent. One of Ryan's paternal ancestors settled in Wisconsin prior to the Civil War. His great-grandfather, Patrick William Ryan, founded an earthmoving company in 1884, which later became P. W. Ryan and Sons and is now known as Ryan Incorporated Central. Ryan's grandfather, Stanley M. Ryan, was appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. In 2018, while filming a segment for the PBS series Finding Your Roots, Ryan learned that his DNA results included 3 percent Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.

Ryan attended St. Mary's Catholic School in Janesville, then attended Joseph A. Craig High School, where he was elected president of his junior class, and thus became prom king. As class president Ryan was a representative of the student body on the school board. Following his second year, Ryan took a job working the grill at McDonald's. He was on his high school's ski, track, and varsity soccer teams and played basketball in a Catholic recreational league. He participated in several academic and social clubs including the Model United Nations. Ryan and his family often went on hiking and skiing trips to the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Although Ryan's father was not a lifelong heavy drinker, staying sober for nearly twenty years after his first stint in rehabilitation, he had become an alcoholic by the time Ryan was a teenager. Ryan later commented on his relationship with his father, whom he revered as a young child, stating that "[alcohol] made him more distant, irritable and stressed ... whiskey had washed away some of the best parts of the man I knew." When he was 16, Ryan found his 55-year-old father lying dead in bed of a heart attack, something Ryan later partially attributed to heavy alcohol consumption. Following the death of his father, Ryan's grandmother moved in with the family. As she had Alzheimer's, Ryan helped care for her while his mother commuted to college in Madison, Wisconsin. From the time of his father's death until his 18th birthday, Ryan received Social Security survivors benefits, which were saved for his college education. His mother later married widower Bruce Douglas.

Ryan has a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he became interested in the writings of Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Milton Friedman. He often visited the office of libertarian professor Richard Hart to discuss the theories of these economists and of Ayn Rand. Hart introduced Ryan to National Review, and with Hart's recommendation Ryan began an internship in the D.C. office of Wisconsin U.S. Senator Bob Kasten, where he worked with Kasten's foreign affairs adviser.

Ryan attended the Washington Semester program at American University. He worked summers as a salesman for Oscar Mayer and once got to drive the Wienermobile. Ryan was a member of the College Republicans, and volunteered for the congressional campaign of John Boehner. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta social fraternity.

Early career 
Betty Ryan reportedly urged her son to accept a congressional position as a legislative aide in Senator Kasten's office, which he did after graduating in 1992. In his early years working on Capitol Hill, Ryan supplemented his income by working as a waiter, as a fitness trainer, and at other jobs.

A few months after Kasten lost to Democrat Russ Feingold in the 1992 election, Ryan became a speechwriter for Empower America (now FreedomWorks), a conservative advocacy group founded by Jack Kemp, Jeane Kirkpatrick, and William Bennett.

Ryan later worked as a speechwriter for Kemp, the Republican vice presidential candidate in the 1996 United States presidential election. Kemp became Ryan's mentor, and Ryan has said he had a "huge influence".

In 1995, Ryan became the legislative director for then-U.S. Congressman Sam Brownback of Kansas. In 1997 he returned to Wisconsin, where he worked for a year as a marketing consultant for the construction company Ryan Incorporated Central, owned by his relatives.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Ryan was first elected to the House in 1998, winning the 1st District seat of Republican Mark Neumann, a two-term incumbent who had vacated his seat to make an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate. 28-year-old Ryan won the Republican primary over 29-year-old pianist Michael J. Logan of Twin Lakes, and the general election against Democrat Lydia Spottswood. This made him the second-youngest member of the House.

Reelected eight times, Ryan never received less than 55 percent of the vote in a congressional election. He defeated Democratic challenger Jeffrey C. Thomas in the 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 elections. In the 2008 election, Ryan defeated Democrat Marge Krupp.

In the 2010 general election, he defeated Democrat John Heckenlively and Libertarian Joseph Kexel. In 2012, under Wisconsin election law, Ryan was allowed to run concurrently for vice president and for Congress and was not allowed to remove his name from the Congressional ballot after being nominated for the vice presidency. He faced Democratic nominee Rob Zerban. As of July 25, 2012, Ryan had over $5.4 million in his congressional campaign account, more than any other House member. He was reelected with 55 percent of his district's vote and 44 percent of the vote in his hometown, Janesville.

Zerban again challenged Ryan in the 2014 House election. Ryan won with 63 percent of his district's vote.

In the 2016 Republican primary election, Ryan faced businessman Paul Nehlen, who had been endorsed by Sarah Palin. Because of Nehlen's support for Trump, Trump publicly thanked him on Twitter and later told The Washington Post that Nehlen was "running a very good campaign", even though he did not endorse him. On August 5, 2016, Trump endorsed Ryan's re-election after pressure from fellow Republican leaders. In the August 9, 2016 primary election, Ryan overwhelmingly defeated Nehlen, taking over 84 percent of the vote. In the November general election, Ryan faced Democrat Rebecca Solen and won with 65 percent of his district's vote.

Committee assignments

As Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ryan was not a chair or a member of any committee. Prior to his speakership, Ryan held the following assignments:
 Committee on Ways and Means (Chairman)
 Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships

 House Republican Caucus
 Caucus of House Conservatives Republican Study Committee
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
 Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus
 Prayer Caucus
 Sportsmen's Caucus (Co-Chair)
Congressional Western Caucus

Pre-Speaker congressional tenure (1999–2015) 

Ryan became the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee in 2007 and became chairman of the committee in 2011 after Republicans took control of the House. That same year, he was selected to deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union address.
As of August 2012, Ryan had been the primary sponsor of more than 70 bills or amendments, and only two of those bills had become law. One, passed in July 2000, renamed a post office in Ryan's district; the other, passed in December 2008, lowered the excise tax on arrow shafts. As of August 2012, Ryan had also co-sponsored 975 bills, of which 176 had passed; 22% of these bills were originally sponsored by a Democrat.

Ryan was a "reliable supporter of the [George W. Bush] administration's foreign policy priorities" who voted for the 2002 Iraq Resolution, authorizing the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In 2010, Ryan was a member of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Bowles-Simpson Commission), which was tasked with developing a plan to reduce the federal deficit. He voted against the final report of the commission. In 2012, Ryan accused the nation's top military leaders of using "smoke and mirrors" to remain under budget limits passed by Congress. Ryan later said that he misspoke on the issue and called General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to apologize for his comments.

Speaker of the House

114th Congress 

On September 25, 2015, John Boehner formally announced to House Republicans his intention to resign from the speakership and the House. Among those interested in the post, Kevin McCarthy—who had wide support among Republicans, including Boehner, and Ryan, who was set to officially nominate him—was considered the presumptive favorite. His candidacy was opposed by conservative House Republicans of the Freedom Caucus, and when it became clear that caucus members would not support his candidacy, McCarthy withdrew his name from consideration on October 8. This led many Republicans to turn to Ryan as a compromise candidate. The push included a plea from Boehner, who reportedly told Ryan that he was the only person who could unite the House Republicans at a time of turmoil. Ryan released a statement that said, "While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate." The next day however, close aides of Ryan's confirmed that Ryan had re-evaluated the situation, and was considering the possibility of a run.

Ryan confirmed on October 22, that he would seek the speakership after receiving the endorsements of two factions of House Republicans, including the conservative Freedom Caucus. Ryan, upon confirming his bid for the speakership, stated, "I never thought I'd be speaker. But I pledged to you that if I could be a unifying figure, then I would serve – I would go all in. After talking with so many of you, and hearing your words of encouragement, I believe we are ready to move forward as one, united team. And I am ready and eager to be our speaker."

On October 29, Ryan was elected Speaker, receiving 236 votes, an absolute majority of the 435-member chamber. Democrat Nancy Pelosi received 184 votes, with 12 more going to others. After the vote Ryan delivered his first remarks as speaker-elect and was sworn in by John Conyers, the dean of the House, becoming, at age , the youngest person elected as speaker since James G. Blaine (age ) in 1869. Later, he named lobbyist John David Hoppe as his Chief of Staff.

As Speaker, Ryan became the leader of the House Republicans. However, by tradition, he largely ceased taking part in debate and almost never voted from the floor. He was also not a member of any committees.

2016 presidential election 

After Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2016 presidential election on May 4, 2016, Ryan was hesitant to endorse him, stating on May 5 that he was "not ready". Ryan and Trump met in private on May 12, releasing a joint statement afterward, acknowledging their differences but stating "we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground." On June 2, Ryan announced his support for Trump in an op-ed in The Janesville Gazette.

The following day, June 3, amid Trump's criticism of Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, Ryan said Trump's critique "just was out of left field for my mind," and voiced disagreement with him. On June 7, Ryan disavowed Trump's comments about Curiel because he believed they were "the textbook definition of a racist comment". Nevertheless, Ryan continued to endorse Trump, believing that more Republican policies will be enacted under Donald Trump than presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. On June 15, after Kevin McCarthy stated during a conversation among Republicans, "There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump. Swear to God", Ryan interjected, "No leaks. This is how we know we're a real family here."

On July 5, after FBI Director James Comey advocated against pressing charges against Clinton for her email scandal, Ryan said Comey's decision "defies explanation" and stated that "[d]eclining to prosecute Secretary Clinton for recklessly mishandling and transmitting national security information will set a terrible precedent."

In October 2016, following the Donald Trump Access Hollywood controversy, Ryan disinvited Trump from a scheduled campaign rally, and announced that he would no longer defend or support Trump's presidential campaign but would focus instead on Congressional races. He also freed down-ticket congress members to use their own judgment about Trump, saying "you all need to do what's best for you and your district." Trump then went on to attack Ryan, accusing him and other "disloyal" Republicans of deliberately undermining his candidacy as part of "a whole sinister deal".

115th Congress 

Two months after the 2016 elections, Ryan was re-elected Speaker of the House on January 3, 2017, the opening day of the 115th Congress. He received 239 votes to House Democratic Leader Pelosi's 189 votes (with 5 more going to others).

On February 7, 2017, Ryan told reporters a replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would be introduced "this year" amid speculation Donald Trump would not act toward doing so until the following year. On March 9, Ryan gave a 30-minute lecture explaining the proposed replacement for the ACA, titled the American Health Care Act (AHCA). On March 30, Ryan said that he did not intend to work with Democrats on repealing and replacing the ACA, reasoning their involvement would lead to "government running health care." On April 4, Ryan confirmed renewed discussions of an ACA replacement, but warned that a replacement was in the "conceptual" stages of its development. On May 4, the House narrowly voted for the AHCA to repeal the ACA. On May 9, Ryan said that "a month or two" would pass before the Senate would pass its own ACA repeal and replacement legislation. The Senate created several of its own versions of the act but was unable to pass any of them.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Ryan suggested that candidate Trump should release his tax returns.

In May 2017, Ryan said Congress' goal was "calendared 2017 for tax reform" and reported progress was being made in doing so. In December 2017, both houses of Congress passed a $1.5 trillion tax bill called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which Trump signed into law on December 22. The tax law is projected to add an additional $1.5 trillion to the national debt over a decade, but the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation also estimated that the GDP level on average would be 0.7% higher during the same period. In the weeks leading up to his retirement announcement, Ryan also championed a $1.3 trillion government-wide spending bill that boosted military spending significantly. Politico noted that Ryan "clamored for austerity when he's been in the minority, trashing Democrats as profligate budget-busters, but he's happily busted budgets in the majority."

In June 2017, Ryan expressed support for strong sanctions on Russia in response to Russian interference in the 2016 elections and its annexation of the Crimea, saying that Russia's actions were "unacceptable". He urged Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Congressional oversight committees to "do their jobs so that we can get to the bottom of all of this." In July Congress passed a bill imposing new sanctions on Russia and giving Congress the power to overrule White House attempts to roll back sanctions. Both houses passed the bill with veto-proof majorities (98-2 in the Senate, 419-3 in the House), so Trump reluctantly signed it into law on August 2, 2017.

Ryan provided political cover for Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, who many characterized as a source of the dysfunction in the committee as it investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election. Nunes accused the Obama administration of improperly “unmasking” the identities of Trump associates (which led Nunes' temporary recusal from the committee's Russia investigation), accused the FBI of misconduct, leaked the text messages of Senator Mark Warner (in an effort to misleadingly suggest impropriety on his behalf), and threatened to impeach FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The House Intelligence Committee was one of few so-called "select" committees in Congress, which meant that it was up to Ryan to decide the chairman of the committee.

Despite having favored comprehensive immigration earlier in his congressional career, Speaker Ryan prevented immigration legislation from being advanced in the House. When President Trump ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) – which granted temporary stay for undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as minors – Ryan said DACA recipients should "rest easy" because Congress would solve the problem for them, but Ryan backed no bills to protect DACA recipients.

An article in The Washington Post described Ryan's relationship with President Trump as "friendly, if occasionally uneasy," adding that "Ryan did little to check the president or encourage oversight of his administration." Ryan supported Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, and did not support legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Ryan said that legislation to protect Mueller's investigation was not "necessary".

On April 11, 2018, Ryan announced that he would not run for re-election in November, saying, "I like to think I've done my part, my little part in history to set us on a better course." In response, Trump tweeted, "Speaker Paul Ryan is a truly good man, and while he will not be seeking re-election, he will leave a legacy of achievement that nobody can question."

In May 2018, Ryan led the House in passing the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which partially repealed the Dodd-Frank Act. It was signed into law by President Trump a few days later.

After Republicans lost control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections, Ryan suggested that there were irregularities about the election results in California. Ryan said that California's election system was "bizarre", "defies logic" and that "there are a lot of races there we should have won." After Ryan's remarks were reported on, Ryan's spokesperson said "The Speaker did not and does not dispute the results".

Assessment of Speaker tenure 

Following Ryan's retirement announcement, an article in The Washington Post stated that Ryan was "leav[ing] behind a legacy of dramatically expanded government spending and immense deficits, a GOP president unchecked, a broken immigration system, and a party that's fast abandoning the free-trade principles that he himself championed." According to the Associated Press, Ryan "achieved one of his career goals: rewriting the tax code"; however, "on his other defining aim — balancing the budget and cutting back benefit programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — Ryan has utterly failed".

Constituent services
In fiscal year 2008, Ryan garnered $5.4 million in congressional earmarks, including $3.28 million for bus service in Wisconsin, $1.38 million for the Ice Age Trail, and $735,000 for the Janesville transit system. In 2009, he successfully advocated with the Department of Energy for stimulus funds for energy initiatives in his district.

Other home district projects he has supported include a runway extension at the Rock County Airport, an environmental study of the Kenosha Harbor, firefighting equipment for Janesville, road projects in Wisconsin, and commuter rail and streetcar projects in Kenosha. In 2008, Ryan pledged to stop seeking earmarks. Prior to that he had sought earmarks less often than other representatives. Taxpayers for Common Sense records show no earmarks supported by Ryan for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. In 2012, Ryan supported a request for $3.8 million from the Department of Transportation for a new transit center in Janesville, which city officials received in July.

Ryan was an active member of a task force established by Wisconsin governor Jim Doyle that tried unsuccessfully to persuade General Motors to keep its assembly plant in Janesville open. He made personal contact with GM executives to try to convince them to save or retool the plant, offering GM hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded incentives. Following the closure of factories in Janesville and Kenosha, constituents expressed dissatisfaction with Ryan's voting history. During the 2011 Congressional summer break, Ryan held town hall meetings by telephone with constituents. The only public meetings Ryan attended in his district required an admission fee of at least $15.

In August 2011, constituents in Kenosha and Racine protested when Ryan would not meet with them about economic and employment issues, after weeks of emailed requests from them. His Kenosha office locked its doors and filed a complaint with the police, who told the protesters that they were not allowed in Ryan's office.

Ryan maintained a mobile office to serve constituents in outlying areas.

2012 vice presidential campaign

Dan Balz of The Washington Post wrote that Ryan was promoted as a candidate for Vice President "by major elements of the conservative opinion makers, including The Wall Street Journal editorial page, the Weekly Standard and the editor of National Review".

On August 11, 2012, the Romney campaign announced Ryan as its choice for Vice President through its "Mitt's VP" mobile app. It was reported that Romney had offered the position to Ryan on August 1, 2012, the day after returning from a foreign policy trip to the United Kingdom, Poland, and Israel. On August 11, 2012, Ryan formally accepted Romney's invitation to join his campaign as his running mate, in front of the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk. Ryan is the first individual from Wisconsin as well as the first member of Generation X to run on a major party's national ticket.

Also in August 2012, the Associated Press published a story saying that while the Tea Party movement had wanted a nominee other than Romney, it had gotten "one of its ideological heroes" in the Vice Presidential slot. According to the article, Ryan supports the Tea Party's belief in "individual rights, distrust of big government and an allegorical embrace of the Founding Fathers".

According to a statistical-historical analysis conducted by Nate Silver, "Ryan is the most conservative Republican member of Congress to be picked for the vice-presidential slot since at least 1900" and "is also more conservative than any Democratic nominee [for vice president who previously served in the Congress] was liberal, meaning that he is the furthest from the center" of any vice presidential candidate chosen from Congress since the turn of the 20th century.

Political scientist Eric Schickler commented that while Ryan "may well be the most conservative vice presidential nominee in decades," the NOMINATE methodology "is not suited to making claims about the relative liberalism or conservatism of politicians" over a long time span. A USA Today/Gallup poll found that 39% thought Ryan was an "excellent" or "pretty good" vice presidential choice, compared to 42% who felt he was a "fair" or "poor" choice.

Ryan formally accepted his nomination at the 2012 Republican National Convention on August 29, 2012. In his acceptance speech, he promoted Mitt Romney as the presidential candidate, supported repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), said that he and Romney had a plan to generate 12 million new jobs over the ensuing four years, and promoted founding principles as a solution: "We will not duck the tough issues—we will lead. We will not spend four years blaming others—we will take responsibility. We will not try to replace our founding principles, we will reapply our founding principles."

The speech was well received by the convention audience and praised for being well-delivered. Some fact-checkers purported that there were important factual omissions and that he presented details out of context. Conservative media (including Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post, the Investor's Business Daily, and Fox News) disputed some of the fact-checkers' findings.   Of 33 of Ryan's statements which Politifact.com suspected of being false or misleading, it rated 10.5% as True, 18% as Mostly True, 21% as Half True, 36% as Mostly False, 9% as False, and 6% as Pants on Fire. On October 11, 2012, Ryan debated his Democratic counterpart, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, in the only vice presidential debate of the 2012 election cycle.

Romney and Ryan lost the 2012 presidential election, but Ryan retained his seat in the House of Representatives.

Congressional Leadership Fund

The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), a Super PAC, has been closely linked and aligned with Ryan. Ryan has directed major GOP donors towards the CLF.

Political positions

Ryan's political positions were generally conservative, with a focus on fiscal policy. Ryan "played a central role in nearly all" the policy debates of the period 2010–2012. In 2012, Ryan voted against the Simpson-Bowles commission proposal to reduce the deficit, because the proposal raised taxes and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. While he was a self-proclaimed deficit hawk, Ryan's tenure of Speaker of the House saw a major expansion in government spending and a ballooning of deficits despite unified Republican control of Congress and the White House, no recession and no new foreign conflict.

Ryan subscribed to supply-side economics and supported tax cuts including eliminating the capital gains tax, the corporate income tax, the estate tax, and the Alternative Minimum Tax. Ryan supports deregulation, including the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of 1999, which repealed some financial regulation of banks from the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933. During the economic recovery from the Great Recession of the late 2000s, Ryan supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which authorized the Treasury to purchase toxic assets from banks and other financial institutions, and the auto industry bailout; Ryan opposed the Credit CARD Act of 2009, which expanded consumer protections regarding credit card plans, and the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which strengthened financial regulation. In 2018 as House Speaker, Ryan helped pass the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act that repealed large parts of Dodd-Frank.

In 2016, Ryan rolled out a set of anti-poverty proposals that "seek to expand work requirements for those receiving federal benefits, to give states and local jurisdictions a greater role in administering those benefits, to better measure the results of federal programs for the poor, and to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse." Ryan believes federal poverty reduction programs are ineffective and he supports cuts to welfare, child care, Pell Grants, food stamps, and other federal assistance programs. Ryan supports block granting Medicaid to the states and the privatization of social security and Medicare. Ryan supported the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit and opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as "Obamacare." Ryan supported the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA), the 2017 House Republican plan to repeal and replace the ACA. In 2012, The New York Times said Ryan was "his party's most forceful spokesman for cutting entitlement spending."

Ryan's non-fiscal policy positions were subject to additional national attention with his 2012 candidacy for Vice President. Ryan is pro-life and opposes abortion rights. Ryan opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which provides that the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action. In 2012, Ryan supported civil unions and opposed same-sex marriage.

Ryan supported school vouchers, and supported the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 and its repeal the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. Ryan is unsure, and believes climate scientists are unsure, of the impact of human activity on climate change. Ryan supported tax incentives for the petroleum industry and opposed them for renewable energy. Ryan supported gun rights and opposed stricter gun control. Ryan supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ryan condemned Barack Obama's decision not to block a UN resolution criticizing Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as "absolutely shameful". Ryan supported President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. He stated: "Jerusalem has been, and always will be, the eternal, undivided capital of the State of Israel."

Following the 2018 Russia–United States summit, in which Donald Trump stated that he believed Russian government did not interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Ryan confirmed his belief that Russian government interfered and advocated for more economic sanctions against Russia for the interference.

Ryan supported U.S. involvement in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and used his power to block a House vote on the war in Yemen.

History with Objectivism 
At a 2005 Washington, D.C. gathering celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ayn Rand's birth, Ryan credited Rand with having inspired him to get involved in politics. In a speech that same year at the Atlas Society, he said he grew up reading Rand, and that her books taught him about his value system and beliefs. Ryan required staffers and interns in his congressional office to read Rand and gave copies of her novel Atlas Shrugged as gifts to his staff for Christmas. In his Atlas Society speech, he also described Social Security as a "socialist-based system".

In 2009, Ryan said, "What's unique about what's happening today in government, in the world, in America, is that it's as if we're living in an Ayn Rand novel right now. I think Ayn Rand did the best job of anybody to build a moral case of capitalism, and that morality of capitalism is under assault."

In April 2012, after receiving criticism from Georgetown University faculty members on his budget plan, Ryan rejected Rand's philosophy as atheistic, saying it "reduces human interactions down to mere contracts". He also called the reports of his adherence to Rand's views an "urban legend" and stated that he was deeply influenced by his Roman Catholic faith and by Thomas Aquinas.

Electoral history

Post-congressional life 
In March 2019, Ryan joined the board of directors of Fox Corporation, the owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcast network. In August 2019, he joined the board of SHINE Medical Technologies. He has since joined the faculty of the University of Notre Dame as a professor of practice for the 2019–20 academic year as a guest lecturer in political science and economics. In April 2019, Ryan was nominated as the delegation leader to represent President Trump to visit Taipei. With Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, he attended the 40th anniversary ceremony of the Taiwan Relations Act. In October 2019, Ryan launched a non-profit called American Idea Foundation.

Personal life

In December 2000, Ryan married  Janna Christine Little, a tax attorney, a graduate of Wellesley College and George Washington University Law School, and a native of Madill, Oklahoma. The Ryans live in the Courthouse Hill Historic District of Janesville, Wisconsin. They have three children: Elizabeth "Liza" Anne, Charles Wilson, and Samuel Lowery. A Roman Catholic, Ryan is a member of St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Janesville.

Janna is a cousin of former Democratic Representative Dan Boren (D-OK). She is also a granddaughter of Reuel Little, who helped found the American Party to support the 1968 presidential campaign of George Wallace.

Due to a family history of fatal heart attacks before age 60, Ryan pursues an intense cross-training fitness program called P90X. Ryan has always been a fitness enthusiast and was a personal trainer when he came out of college. About P90X, he said, "It works because it's called muscle confusion. It hits your body in many different ways. Pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, lots of cardio, karate, jump training. It has results, it works. It's a good workout."

In a 2010 Politico interview, he said that he weighed 163 pounds and maintained his body fat percentage between 6 and 8%. Tony Horton, creator of P90X, who has personally trained Ryan many times, reiterated the claim saying, "He is very, very, very lean. I know what 6 to 8 percent body fat looks like, and there's no fat anywhere on the man. I'm around 9 percent and he's much leaner than I am. He’s easily 6 to 8 percent body fat. You just have to eat right and exercise every day, and that’s what he does."

In a radio interview, Ryan claimed he had once run a marathon in under three hours; he later stated that he forgot his actual time and was just trying to state what he thought was a normal time. His one official marathon time is recorded as slightly over four hours.

Awards and honors
 2004, 2010 – Guardian of Small Business Award, National Federation of Independent Business
 2008 – Defending the American Dream Award, Americans for Prosperity, Wisconsin chapter
 2009 – Manufacturing Legislative Excellence Award, National Association of Manufacturers
 2009 – Honorary Degree, Miami University
 2010 – Legislator of the Year Award, International Franchise Association
 2011 – Statesmanship Award, Claremont Institute
 2011 – Fiscy Award for responsible financial stewardship and fiscal discipline in government.
 2011 – Leadership Award, Jack Kemp Foundation
 2011 – Freedom and Prosperity Award, Mason Contractors Association of America
 2012 – Chair, Honorary Board of the Archery Trade Association
 2014 – Alexander Hamilton Award, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
 2018 –  Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service

References

Further reading
Works about Ryan
 
 
 
 
 

Works by Ryan

External links

 
 
 

 Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Historical Society

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1970 births
2012 United States vice-presidential candidates
20th-century American politicians
20th-century Roman Catholics
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century Roman Catholics
American male non-fiction writers
American people of English descent
American people of Jewish descent
American people of German descent
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American political writers
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Living people
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin
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The October 2015 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election took place on October 29, 2015, during the 114th United States Congress. This unusual intra-term election for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was necessitated by the impending resignation of  John Boehner from the speakership and the House, set for October 30. Boehner was the first speaker to resign in the middle of a Congressional term since Jim Wright in 1989.

This was 124th speaker of the House election since the office was created in 1789. Republican congressman Paul Ryan, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, won the election, receiving 236 votes, an absolute majority of the 435-member chamber. Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader, garnered 184 votes, with 12 more going to others. As 432 representatives cast a vote, the majority needed to win was 217.

Ryan (age ) was the youngest person elected as speaker since James G. Blaine (age ) in 1869. After the vote Ryan delivered his first remarks as speaker-elect and was sworn in by John Conyers, the dean of the House.

Boehner had been speaker since January 5, 2011, and during his tenure had managed substantial friction within the House Republican Conference, most notably several high-profile disputes with the Freedom Caucus. On September 25, 2015, Boehner announced his decision to resign as speaker and from Congress. He scheduled a Republican Conference non-binding vote for speaker on October 8, and a full floor vote on October 29.

Several Republicans expressed interest in becoming speaker. Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader was initially viewed as the favorite, but withdrew his name from consideration on October 8, when the Freedom Caucus refused to support him, and the conference vote was postponed. Immediately afterwards, an effort was made to recruit the widely respected Paul Ryan, who had been the 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate, for the post; but he had repeatedly insisted that he was not interested in the job. However, after receiving pledges of support from each of the various party factions, Ryan declared his candidacy. The several other Republicans interested in running for speaker promptly endorsed Ryan; only Daniel Webster remained in the race. Ryan won the rescheduled conference vote on October 28, and was elected speaker the next day.

Background

Process and conventions
The speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The House elects its speaker at the beginning of a new Congress (i.e. , after a general election) or when a speaker dies, resigns or is removed from the position intra-term. Since 1839, the House has elected speakers by roll call vote. Traditionally, each party's caucus or conference selects a candidate for the speakership from among its senior leaders prior to the roll call. Representatives are not restricted to voting for the candidate nominated by their party, but generally do, as the outcome of the election effectively determines which party has the majority and consequently will organize the House. Representatives that choose to vote for someone other than their party's nominated candidate usually vote for someone else in their party or vote "present".

Moreover, as the Constitution does not explicitly state that the speaker must be an incumbent member of the House, it is permissible for representatives to vote for someone who is not a member of the House at the time, and non-members have received a few votes in various speaker elections over the past several years. Nevertheless, every person elected speaker has been a member. Representatives that choose to vote for someone other than their party's nominated candidate usually vote for someone else in their party or vote "present".

To be elected speaker a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast, as opposed to an absolute majority of the full membership of the Housepresently 218 votes, in a House of 435. There have only been a few instances during the past century where a person received a majority of the votes cast, and thus won the election, while failing to obtain a majority of the full membership. It happened most recently in January 2015 (114th Congress), when John Boehner was elected with 216 votes (as opposed to 218). Such a variation in the number of votes necessary to win a given election might arise due to vacancies, absentees, or members being present but not voting. If no candidate wins a majority of the "votes cast for a person by name," then the roll call is repeated until a speaker is elected. Multiple roll calls have been necessary only 14 times since 1789; and not since 1923 (68th Congress), when a closely divided House needed nine ballots to elect Frederick H. Gillett speaker. Upon winning election the new speaker is immediately sworn in by the Dean of the United States House of Representatives, the chamber's longest-serving member.

Speakership and resignation of John Boehner

John Boehner, a member of the Republican Party from Ohio, served as the Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives from February 2006 until January 2007. As the Democratic Party assumed control of the House following the 2006 elections, Boehner served as Minority Leader from January 2007 until January 2011. When Republicans reassumed control of the House of Representatives in January 2011, Boehner was elected as speaker, with the votes of all 241 of his fellow Republicans. In 2014, some House Republicans reached out to Ben Carson about his interest in becoming speaker should they be able to oust Boehner; Carson declined, citing his impending candidacy for president. Boehner's Republican opponents formed a congressional caucus, called the Freedom Caucus, in January 2015 to focus their opposition. Though Boehner was reelected as speaker at the beginning of the 114th United States Congress that month, 25 conservative members of the Republican caucus did not vote for him. Daniel Webster, a Republican from Florida, received 12 votes.

Throughout 2015, Boehner and the Freedom Caucus remained at odds. Boehner stripped his opponents of leadership posts and other perks, while the American Action Network, a group allied with Boehner, aired television ads against Freedom Caucus members in their home districts. Meanwhile, the Freedom Caucus opposing Boehner's plans, forcing him to rely on Democratic votes to pass bills. Needing to pass a federal budget for the 2016 fiscal year beginning October 1, the Freedom Caucus, now consisting of approximately 40 conservative Republicans affiliated with the Tea Party movement, threatened to block a resolution from passing unless it would defund Planned Parenthood and to initiate a vote to vacate the speakership if Boehner did not support their demands.  The caucus sought the following promises: (1) the decentralization of the House Steering Committee, so that the Speaker and House Majority Leader are not solely in charge of committee assignments, (2) not supporting an increase in the U.S. debt ceiling without entitlement reform (Social Security reform and Medicare reform), (3) willingness to impeach John Koskinen, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and (4) passing spending bills approved by the caucus rather than a continuing resolution favored by Democrats in the United States Senate.

On July 28, 2015, Mark Meadows, a member of the Freedom Caucus from North Carolina, filed a motion to vacate the speakership, only the second time the motion had been filed. The next day, Boehner referred to the motion as "no big deal". However, following continued pressure from the Freedom Caucus, and to avoid the vacation of his speakership, Boehner announced on September 25 that he would resign the speakership and retire from Congress effective October 30. Sources from his office indicated he chose to resign due to the increasing discord within the Republican caucus so that he could manage passage of a continuing resolution to fund the government and avoid a government shutdown.

Candidates
On September 28, Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Majority Leader, and Webster announced that they would run for speaker of the House. McCarthy was considered the presumptive favorite in the race. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah and the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced his candidacy on October 4, claiming that McCarthy did not have the votes to win the election. Several Republicans urged Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the running mate of Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, to run for speaker, but he declined, saying he is a "policy guy" with a preference to focus on his role as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who served as the speaker from January 2007 through January 2011, asked her Democratic colleagues for their vote in the election. Steny Hoyer, the House Minority Whip, said that he expected that the "overwhelming majority" of Democrats to vote for Pelosi. He said that if a Republican could not get the votes needed, Democrats could consider their options.

On October 7, the day before the Republican caucus scheduled a non-binding vote for speaker, Ryan and former Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed McCarthy, as did 11 of the 13 House Republicans from Pennsylvania. The Freedom Caucus decided to endorse Webster in the race. Other Republicans said they would vote against McCarthy, including Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who called McCarthy "absolutely not an option" because of his previous role as Boehner's "right-hand man". Also, Walter B. Jones, Jr. of North Carolina sent a letter to the Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers stating that any candidates for a leadership position with "misdeeds" should withdraw from the race. Jones has stated that his comment did not specifically refer to McCarthy, but it was widely seen as referring to rumors that McCarthy had been committing an extramarital affair with fellow Representative Renee Ellmers, a rumor that both have denied; the basis for such an allegation and interpretation is unclear.

Citing opposition from within the Republican Party, as well as fallout from controversial comments he made about the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi, McCarthy dropped out of the race on October 8. This unexpected move came without warning as House Republicans were preparing to vote on who would be their nominee for speaker, a vote which Boehner subsequently postponed. Thomas Massie and Peter T. King referred to the House as a "banana republic". Massie also criticized Boehner for postponing the election, saying they "called off the election because they didn’t like the result," which was echoed by Tom Rice, Louie Gohmert, and Justin Amash. McMorris Rodgers and Conference Vice Chairwoman Lynn Jenkins defended Boehner, saying the matter was handled properly, as conference rules give him sole discretion. Rich Lowry of National Review asked McCarthy in a phone interview if the House was governable, to which McCarthy replied "I don’t know. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom." Charlie Dent, a Republican from Pennsylvania who had supported McCarthy, suggested that if Republicans are unable to agree on a candidate, the best option might be for a bipartisan coalition to select a speaker.

The announcement immediately set off a renewed effort to recruit Ryan as a candidate. Boehner personally called Ryan twice to ask him to run, and Chaffetz said that he would not run against Ryan if he chose to enter the race. Ryan also received calls from Mitt Romney and Trey Gowdy, among others, encouraging him to run for speaker. Additional Ryan endorsements came from Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, 2016 Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise from Louisiana. On October 9, close aides of Ryan confirmed that Ryan was reconsidering the possibility of a run.

A possible Ryan candidacy received support from the same Freedom Caucus that opposed Boehner and McCarthy. Meadows said on October 11 that Ryan running would "definitely change the equation," and Chairman Jim Jordan described Ryan as "a good man," and stated that the Freedom Caucus would view a Ryan run "favorably".

Others who expressed their interest in running included Texas Representatives Bill Flores and Michael McCaul, Georgia Representative Lynn Westmoreland, Montana Representative Ryan Zinke, and California Representative and former Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa. However, several candidates made clear that they would only run if Ryan chose not to, including Issa, McCaul, and Minnesota Representative John Kline. On October 12, Flores confirmed that he would run for speaker, but stated that he would run only if Ryan stayed out of the contest.

Ryan held a closed-door meeting with the Republican Caucus on October 20, where he explained that he would run for speaker if he could be guaranteed an overwhelming majority of the Republican caucus would support him. Specifically, Ryan requested an increased threshold for the political maneuver of vacating the speakership, stated that he would not lessen the amount of time he spends with his family, and requested an official endorsement from the Freedom Caucus, Republican Study Committee, and The Tuesday Group by October 23, before he could make his decision. Immediately after Ryan's announcement, Chaffetz announced that he would be dropping out of the race to support Ryan. The next day, the Freedom Caucus held a vote to determine which of its members would support Ryan; although the exact tally was not revealed, roughly two-thirds of the caucus voted to endorse Ryan. Although this was shy of the 80% vote needed for an official endorsement over Webster, both the caucus leaders and Ryan were satisfied with the result, and Ryan made efforts to move forward with a potential speaker bid.

On October 22, Ryan announced his bid for speaker. Flores, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, dropped out of the race and endorsed Ryan. Mo Brooks of Alabama, a member of the Freedom Caucus, announced on the floor of the House on October 27 that Ryan had agreed not to advance immigration reform legislation while Barack Obama is President of the United States, or unless it meets the "Hastert Rule," as it has the support of the majority of Republicans.

Once it appeared certain that Ryan would run, and win an overwhelming majority of the caucus's votes, Boehner rescheduled the Republican caucus vote for October 28. Ryan won the nomination, defeating Webster 200 to 43 in the secret ballot voting. Blackburn and McCarthy each received one vote. The next day, Webster reportedly urged Republicans to vote for Ryan instead of him.

Declared
The following officially declared their candidacy:
 Nancy Pelosi, (Democratic Party), Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives (since 2011; 2003–2007), United States Representative for  (since 2013), and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2007–2011).
 Paul Ryan, (Republican Party), United States Representative for  (since 1999), Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee (since 2015), Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2012 election.
 Daniel Webster, (Republican Party), United States Representative for  (since 2013).

Withdrawn
The following were candidates, but subsequently withdrew:
 Jason Chaffetz, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2008), Chairman of the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (since 2015) (Withdrew on October 20, 2015; endorsed Paul Ryan).
 Bill Flores, (Republican Party), United States representative for  since 2011. (Withdrew on October 22, 2015; endorsed Paul Ryan).
 Kevin McCarthy (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2013), Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives (since 2014). (Withdrew on October 8, 2015).

Publicly expressed interest 
The following publicly expressed interest in becoming candidates:
 Darrell Issa, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2003), Chairman of the House Oversight Committee (2011–2015).
 Newt Gingrich, (Republican Party), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1995–1999), House Minority Whip (1989–1995), United States representative for  (1979–1999).
 Michael McCaul, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2005), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee (since 2013).
 Mike Pompeo, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2011).
 Lynn Westmoreland, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2007).
 Ryan Zinke, (Republican Party), United States representative for Montana's at-large congressional district (since 2015).

Declined to run
The following received some speculation about a possible candidacy, but subsequently ruled themselves out:
 Marsha Blackburn, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2003).
Trey Gowdy (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2011), Chairman of the House Benghazi Committee (since 2014).
Jeb Hensarling (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2003), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services (since 2013).
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2005), Chairman of the House Republican Conference (since 2013).
 Peter Roskam, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2007).
Steve Scalise (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2008), Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives (since 2014).

Received speculation
The following received speculation about a possible candidacy in at least two reliable sources:
 Diane Black, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2011).
 Mike Conaway, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2005).
 Mike Kelly, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2011).
 John Kline, (Republican Party), United States representative for  (since 2003), Chairman of the House Education Committee (since 2011).

Election of the speaker

On October 29, 2015, Ryan was elected speaker, receiving 236 votes. Following the election, Raúl Labrador, a Freedom Caucus member from Idaho, said that Ryan will need to "realize the honeymoon is over and start bringing us some conservative policy," and that "the final exam for Paul Ryan will be in January 2017, when there is a speaker election, and we will look at his body of work and determine whether he gets a passing grade or not."

The vote count in the October 2015 speaker of the House election was:

Representatives voting for someone other than their party's speaker nominee were:
 Dave Brat of Virginia; Curt Clawson of Florida; Louie Gohmert of Texas; Paul Gosar of Arizona; Walter Jones of North Carolina; Thomas Massie of Kentucky; Bill Posey of Florida; Randy Weber of Texas; and Ted Yoho of Florida voted for Dan Webster;
 Jim Cooper of Tennessee voted for Colin Powell, who was not a member of the House at the time;
 Gwen Graham of Florida voted for Jim Cooper;
 Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona voted for John Lewis.

References

Speaker of the House election
Speaker of the House election
Paul Ryan
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House election
Speaker October
2015 Gene G. Chandler (born June 28, 1947) is a Republican politician in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Residing in Bartlett, Chandler represented Carroll County District 1 (Bartlett, Hart's Location and Jackson) in the New Hampshire House of Representatives for decades until his defeat in 2018.

Legislative and leadership experience 

Chandler was Deputy Majority Leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1997 to 1998, Majority Leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1998 to 2000, and Speaker of the House from 2000 to 2004 and 2017 to 2018. He served as House Speaker Pro Tempore from 2010 to 2012 and was elected House Republican Leader following the 2012 election.

In addition to his House duties, Chandler has served on the Bartlett Board of Selectmen since 1974 and has been chair of the Board for the last 10.

2010 election 

On October 6, 2010, the Conway Daily Sun reported that Chandler would run for Speaker again if the Republicans retook the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections. Chandler said, "“First, I have to win reelection in my district and as you know it’s a crowded field. Secondly we would need to see the Republicans get back the majority in the House. If that all happens then I will run for Speaker." Republicans currently need fourteen seats to retake the House. Chandler easily took the number one GOP slot in the primaries earlier in the year, and received more votes than any other candidate in his district. He won re-election and the Republican Party took control of the House on November 2, 2010.

Two weeks later, on November 18, 2010, Chandler was defeated 142–133 in his run for the Speakership. Chandler yielded to Representative William O'Brien, saying he would not ask House Democrats to support him.

O'Brien appointed Chandler Speaker Pro-Tempore, which he served as during the 2011–2012 term.

2012 election 

In December 2012, Chandler was as elected as the Minority leader in the House, defeating former Deputy House Speaker Pam Tucker (R-Greenland) by a vote of 91–79.

Personal life 

Chandler attended New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University) and Olivet College and is in the real estate, land and timber business. He and his late wife, Nancy, were married for more than 30 years. He is the father of two grown sons and grandfather to four grandchildren. Chandler is an avid outdoorsman, hunter, skier.

Campaign finance issues 

Chandler was the Speaker of the House from 2001 until 2004, when he chose not to seek re-election as Speaker amid allegations that he failed to report approximately $64,000 he received in gifts over a six-year period.  In 2004, it came to light that Chandler failed to report money he received from the group "Friends of Gene Chandler", which held an annual "Old-Fashioned Corn Roast" for the preceding ten years.

Chandler argued that he had been misinformed by the State Secretary of State's office, since the money was raised by a "Friends committee." Under New Hampshire State Law, money raised by such an organization cannot be used for election purposes, but is instead used to cover other expenses. However, the money must still be reported. Acknowledging he made a mistake, Chandler pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor for violating RSA 640:5 Gifts to Public Servants, for failure to file financial information with the State.  He was forced to pay the maximum fine of $2,000 and perform 100 hours of community service.

Chandler remained in office, but did not run for a third term as speaker. He received a censure from the House for violating House Ethics Rules, although the Ethics Committee had recommended expulsion. Chandler was reelected during the Attorney General's investigation and had the confidence of Speaker W. Douglas Scamman. Chandler served as Chairman of the House Public Works and Highways Committee.

On September 9, 2005, The Conway Daily Sun ran an article announcing that the corn roasts, now "Gene's Fall Family Fun Picnic", would continue as normal on September 11, 2005, with the cost still $10 to attend, and Rep. Chandler asserted it was "200 percent legal." The event has continued since then.

Office 
In the 2007-2008 biennium, House Republican Leader Michael Whalley appointed Chandler as Republican Policy Leader, the number 3 person in the Republican Caucus. House Republican Leader Sherman Packard appointed Chandler as Senior Assistant Republican Leader in the 2009-2010 legislative biennium.

References

External links
 

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1947 births
21st-century American politicians
Bartlett, New Hampshire
Living people
Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
New Hampshire Republicans
Olivet College alumni
People from Carroll County, New Hampshire
Southern New Hampshire University alumni
Speakers of the New Hampshire House of Representatives