Dapper O'Neil | |
|---|---|
_(1).jpg) O'Neil, circa 1984-1987 | |
| President of theBoston City Council | |
| In office 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Christopher A. Iannella |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Menino |
| Boston City Councilor At-Large | |
| In office 1971–1999 | |
| Preceded by | Louise Day Hicks |
| Succeeded by | Michael F. Flaherty |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1920-04-12)April 12, 1920 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | December 19, 2007(2007-12-19) (aged 87) Boston, Massachusetts |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Staley School of the Spoken Word |
Albert Leo "Dapper"O'Neil (April 12, 1920 – December 19, 2007) was an American politician who served as asocially conservative member of theBoston City Council for twenty-eight years.[1] Prior to joining the council, he served on the Boston Licensing Board and was an operative for theMayor of BostonJames Michael Curley.[1]
O'Neil graduated fromRoxbury Memorial High School in 1937,[2] and attendedSuffolk University Law School, but left before graduating to serve in theUnited States Army duringWorld War II.[1] After the war, he graduated from theStaley School of the Spoken Word with a degree in oratory. He worked with a railroad company and was then employed by the state housing board.[3]
In a 1978 interview, O'Neil explained that he got his nickname because his mother was very meticulous about how her children dressed, and where he grew up (theRoxbury neighborhood of Boston) "everybody had a nickname."[4]
From 1948 to 1961, O'Neil ran for office five times, three times for state representative and once each for City Council and School Committee, losing all five races. He then chauffeured for Massachusetts gubernatorial candidateEndicott Peabody.[3] After Peabody was electedGovernor of Massachusetts inNovember 1962, he considered appointing O'Neil as hispatronage secretary;[5] however, O'Neil made public comments critical of theMassachusetts Democratic Party chairman,Gerard F. Doherty,[5] and the job went to aWorcester attorney, William J. Luby.[6] In October 1963, Peabody appointed O'Neil to the Boston Licensing Board.[7][8] In1967, O'Neil ran forMayor of Boston,[9] finishing eighth in thepreliminary election with only 0.95% of the vote.[10]
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In January 1971, O'Neil was appointed to the Boston City Council after the resignation ofLouise Day Hicks, who had been elected to theUnited States House of Representatives.[11] He was subsequently re-elected fourteen times, each term lasting two years.
While on the council, O'Neil thrice ran forSuffolk County Sheriff. He lost the Democratic nomination toThomas Eisenstadt in 1974,Dennis J. Kearney in 1978, andRobert Rufo in 1986.
In 1992, he was elected Council President after the death ofChristopher A. Iannella.[3]
InNovember 1999, O'Neil finished fifth (behindFrancis Roache,Stephen J. Murphy,Peggy Davis-Mullen,Michael F. Flaherty) in an at-large race in which the top four make the council. In a story published inThe Boston Globe after O'Neil's loss, Boston historianThomas H. O'Connor wrote, "This is the last hurrah not merely for a man but for the politicking he represents." O'Connor went on to say that O'Neil's career endured "largely through the kinds of loyalties he built up over thirty years, from people for whom he'd done favors, and they'd never forget him, and they'd talk about him to their relatives. He built a political career on a system of local patronage."
O'Neil was a longtime supporter of theright to bear arms; he was known to carry a.38handgun, which he drew at least twice to capture criminals, and he stated in a 1976 council meeting, "I'm an excellent shot. I'll protect people against anyone who comes through that door."[12]
In January 1999, O'Neil confirmed he was a supporter of theCouncil of Conservative Citizens, awhite supremacist group, leading to a heated exchange with fellow councillorGareth R. Saunders.[13][14]
Similar to his council predecessor, Hicks, O'Neil was a fierce opponent of court-mandateddesegregation busing during theBoston desegregation busing crisis.[15]
In 2015, journalist Michael Jonas of theCommonwealth Beacon recalled O'Neil's politics negatively, writing that O'Neil, "trafficked in the bile-based politics of racial division and resentment of "outsiders" that helped give Boston a tarnished reputation nationally that the city is still working to overcome."[16] O'Neil's 2007Associated Press-distributedobituary reflected of his politics, "an unabashedconservative in aliberal town. Some thought him abigot, but his style endeared him to others."[15]
In 1995, Boston newspapers reported that harassment complaints had been filed against O'Neil by a female city worker and a female college student; O'Neil later counter-sued the complainants, claiming that he had been slandered.[17][18]
A 1984 recording by O'Neil of the song "The Irish Belly Dancer" can be found online.[19][20] In 1996, he won $50,000 from aMassachusetts Lotteryscratch ticket.[21]
O'Neil never married; he had a girlfriend, Helen T. Skrzowski, for 56 years.[22]
O'Neil was atobacco smoker into his seventies. In his later years of life, he suffered deteriorating health.[15] After treatment forprostate cancer in 1992 and 1993, O'Neil hadcancer surgery in January 1998.[23] By 1997, he was legally blind.[24] In 2001, O'Neil suffered aheart attack. In his later years, he also required aknee replacement andgallbladder surgery. He suffered a rare degenerative neurological illness that led to severe loss of weight.[15] O'Neil died in West Roxbury on December 19, 2007—his funeral was held at St. Theresa of Avila Church inWest Roxbury.[1] He is buried in theMassachusetts National Cemetery inBourne.[22]
| Preceded by | President of theBoston City Council 1992 | Succeeded by |
