During the opening 30 second's of Pope Francis' address to Congress, Boehner could be seen visibly emotional and trying to contain those emotions. It is now clear why he was so emotional.

John Boehner announced today he will resign as Speaker at the end of October. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., told NBC News that Boehner informed House members of his decision during the routine meeting, then read aloud the Prayer of St. Francis, which begins, “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.”

Mr. Boehner’s surprise announcement came just a day after Pope Francis visited the Capitol, the fulfillment of a 20-year dream for Mr. Boehner of having a pontiff address Congress. He had a private audience with Francis before the pope’s address to a joint meeting of Congress.

It is widely, and accurately, being stated that the cause of his resignation has been the long standing attempts to remove him from the Speakership by the right wing of the Republican Party. Since January 2015, when Republican took control of Congress, this movement has grown as many on the right have been frustrated that no legislation representing the Republican agenda (such as Obamacare repeal, immigration, etc.) has been sent to the President. Knowing the President would veto any such legislation and that even though Republicans had control of Congress but not enough votes to overcome a Presidential veto, Boehner elected not to waste time with this process. That decision sealed his fate. The right wanted hundreds of bills to cross the President's desk and return with his veto. But that has not occurred. Therefore, his apparent inaction continued to fire up conservatives against him and continued to make the Congress look as disfunctional as it was under Democrat leadership the previous 6 years. A Boehner aide seemed to make clear reference to the internal party turmoil. “Speaker Boehner believes that the first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution and, as we saw yesterday with the Holy Father, it is the one thing that unites and inspires us all,” the aide said. “… The Speaker believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution.” What does that mean? We think it means Congress has become more of a political body vs a legislative body. Harry Reid made decision based on political messaging. Boehner made decisions based on what he thought was the best he could accomplish at the time. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said Boehner “just does not want to become the issue. Some people have tried to make him the issue both in Congress and outside.” If he was to continue to be a political issue within the Congress it would harm the institution and its legislative purpose. True? Don't know for sure, but an analysis of his comments makes this appear to be the case. This, then, is a selfless act that demonstrates the character of the individual. Whether you agree with his job as Speaker or not, you have to admire his serious attention to the job and his overarching goal of doing what is right for the institution and the country.

Current Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) is a likely candidate to succeed Mr. Boehner as speaker, according to GOP lawmakers. But it isn’t clear if conservatives will rally behind Mr. McCarthy. Several conservative Republicans said they had not yet determined who should replace Mr. Boehner.