The Time John Boehner Personally Battled To Stop An Anti-Smoking Executive Order

Outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner is one of the most famous cigarette smokers in Washington -- and when the federal government considered cracking down on smoking in the workplace in 1991, the Ohio Republican decided to take a stand.

When outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner – famously a smoker – learned that George H.W. Bush was considering signing an Executive Order banning workplace smoking by federal employees, he decided to take a stand for "individual rights and freedoms."

"I has come to my attention that OMB is circulating a proposed Executive Order, drafted by HHS, which would 'establish a smoke-free environment in all work space occupied by Federal employees,'" Boehner wrote to then-White House Chief of Staff John Sununu in 1991.

"I understand the concerns expressed by Secretary Sullivan surrounding the dangers of smoking, but I feel this proposed order is unnecessary and I strongly urge its rejection," he wrote.

"The proposed Executive Order does not seek to accommodate in any fashion, the individual rights of employees or visitors to federal buildings who choose to smoke," Boehner continued. "I find such a policy to be in extreme and direct conflict with the long accepted belief of individual rights and freedoms. Granted, a nonsmoker has the right to choose not to be inundated with tobacco smoke," Boehner ceded, "but this right does not extend to the point where non-smokers dictate that another individual cannot choose to smoke."

"I respectfully request that you continue the present policy of allowing federal agencies to work with their employees to establish smoking policies in the workplace," Boehner concluded. "I believe this is preferable to an insensitive government-wide ban that treats federal employees as second class citizens and denies smokers their rights."

Boehner won the battle, but ultimately lost the war. The Bush administration abandoned their anti-smoking push, but Bill Clinton signed an Executive Order banning smoking in all federal buildings in 1997.

Not all was lost, however. As CNN reported at the time, the 1997 ban "didn't banish smokers from government-owned doorways and courtyards," and still allowed for indoor smoking "in enclosed, separately ventilated areas."

Here's the full letter

George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
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