The official portrait of former House Speaker John Boehner was unveiled Tuesday on Capitol Hill, bringing Democrats and Republicans together in a rare moment of consent.
Boehner, an Ohio Republican who served 24 years in Congress and was known to occasionally tear up, wiped his eyes during a 30-minute ceremony.
The portrait by artist Ronald Scherr will hang in the House Speaker's lobby with portraits of Boehner's predecessors. It shows the former leader in a suit sitting on a leather chair.
FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER SHOWS OFF PORTRAIT PAINTED BY GEORGE W. BUSH
Current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Boehner, 70, a "great patriot" and "the personification of the American Dream."
“I think he was crying when he gave me the gavel as Speaker of the House,” Pelosi said of the day she took over the speakership when Democrats won control of the House in 2006.
She cited Boehner's willingness to work across the aisle with Democrats to get legislation passed.
Boehner was named House Speaker in 2011 after Republicans regained a House majority. His tenure was marked by the Great Recession and battles with the Tea Party wing of the GOP. He retired in 2015 and serves on the board of a cannabis company.
During his remarks, Boehner poked fun at himself and reflected on his time Congress.
"Well, well, well. What a lovely day to be back in the Capitol,” he said. "I see Madame Speaker took care of me — she put a box of tissues down here just in case."
“It’s my hope that when our fellow citizens see this portrait in the Speaker’s Lobby for decades to come, they will think not about me, but about the things that we stood for during my time in the Capitol. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice,” he said, according to The Hill.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Boehner the "best dealmaker and negotiator but the worst poker face in American political history," and always wore "his heart on his sleeve," The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he had many disagreements with Boehner but that he worked to guide the House "under the most difficult circumstances."
“Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat," Boehner said "whether you voted for me for Speaker, or for somebody else, it was an honor to serve with you."