Tip O'Neill | |
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.jpg) O'Neill in October 1978 | |
| 47thSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives | |
| In office January 4, 1977 – January 3, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Carl Albert |
| Succeeded by | Jim Wright |
| Leader of theHouse Democratic Caucus | |
| In office January 4, 1977 – January 3, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Carl Albert |
| Succeeded by | Jim Wright |
| House Majority Leader | |
| In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1977 | |
| Deputy | John J. McFall |
| Speaker | Carl Albert |
| Preceded by | Hale Boggs |
| Succeeded by | Jim Wright |
| House Majority Whip | |
| In office January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1973 | |
| Leader | Carl Albert |
| Preceded by | Hale Boggs |
| Succeeded by | John J. McFall |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts | |
| In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | John F. Kennedy |
| Succeeded by | Joseph P. Kennedy II |
| Constituency | 11th district (1953–1963) 8th district (1963–1987) |
| Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office 1949–1953 | |
| Preceded by | Frederick Willis |
| Succeeded by | Charles Gibbons |
| Minority Leader of theMassachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office 1947–1949 | |
| Preceded by | John Flaherty |
| Succeeded by | Charles Gibbons |
| Member of theMassachusetts House of Representatives from the3rd Middlesex district | |
| In office 1937–1953 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Phillip O'Neill Jr. (1912-12-09)December 9, 1912 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | January 5, 1994(1994-01-05) (aged 81) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mount Pleasant Cemetery,Harwich Port, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5, includingThomas |
| Education | Boston College (BA) |
Tip O'Neill speaks on PresidentRonald Reagan's planned changes toSocial Security Recorded September 25, 1981 | |
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an AmericanDemocratic Party politician fromMassachusetts who served as the47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, the third-longest tenure in history and the longest uninterrupted tenure. He represented northernBoston in the House from 1953 to 1987.
Born inNorth Cambridge, Massachusetts, O'Neill began campaigning at a young age by volunteering forAl Smith's campaign in the1928 presidential election. After graduating fromBoston College, he won election to theMassachusetts House of Representatives, where he became a strong advocate ofFranklin D. Roosevelt'sNew Deal policies. He became Speaker of the Massachusetts House in 1949 and won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1952 to succeedJohn F. Kennedy.
In the U.S. House, O'Neill became a protégé of fellow Boston RepresentativeJohn William McCormack. O'Neill broke with PresidentLyndon B. Johnson on theVietnam War in 1967 and called forRichard Nixon's resignation in light of theWatergate scandal. He quickly moved up the leadership ranks in the 1970s, becoming House Majority Whip in 1971, House Majority Leader in 1973, and Speaker of the House in 1977. With the election of PresidentJimmy Carter, O'Neill hoped to establish auniversal health care system and a guaranteed jobs program. However, relations between Carter and Congress deteriorated, and Carter lost re-election in the1980 presidential election toRonald Reagan, a conservativeRepublican. O'Neill became a leading opponent of President Reagan's conservative domestic policies, but O'Neill and Reagan found common ground in foreign policy, fostering theAnglo-Irish Agreement and implementing theReagan Doctrine (despite considerable opposition to Reagan's support for theContras in Nicaragua) in theSoviet–Afghan War.
O'Neill retired from Congress in 1987 but remained active in public life. He published a best-selling autobiography and appeared in several commercials and other media. He died of cardiac arrest in 1994.
O'Neill was the third of three children born to Thomas Phillip O'Neill and Rose Ann (née Tolan) O'Neill in theIrish middle-class area ofNorth Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 9, 1912, known at the time as "Old Dublin." His mother died when he was nine months old, and he was raised largely by a French-Canadian housekeeper until his father remarried when he was eight in 1921. O'Neill Sr. started out as a bricklayer, and later won a seat on theCambridge City Council and was appointed Superintendent of Sewers. During his childhood, O'Neill received the nickname "Tip" after the Canadian baseball playerJames "Tip" O'Neill.[1] He was educated inRoman Catholic schools, graduating in 1931 from the now defunct St. John High School in Cambridge, where he was captain of the basketball team; he was a lifelong parishioner at the school's affiliated parish churchSt. John the Evangelist Church. From there he went toBoston College, from which he graduated in 1936.
O'Neill first became active in politics at 15, campaigning forAl Smith in his1928 presidential campaign. Four years later, he helped campaign forFranklin D. Roosevelt. As a senior atBoston College, O'Neill ran for a seat on the Cambridge City Council, but lost; his first race and only electoral defeat. The campaign taught him the lesson that became his best-known quote: "All politics is local."[2]
After graduating in 1936, O'Neill was elected at the age of 24 to theMassachusetts House of Representatives, aided by tough economic times among his constituents; the experience made him a strong advocate of theNew Deal policies of Roosevelt, which were just then coming to an end. His biographerJohn Aloysius Farrell said his background inDepression-era working-class Boston, and his interpretation of his Catholic faith, led O'Neill to view the role of government as intervening to cure social ailments. O'Neill was "an absolute, unrepentant, unreconstructed New Deal Democrat," Farrell wrote.[3]
In 1949, he became the first DemocraticSpeaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in its history. He remained in that post until 1952, when he ran for the United States House of Representatives from his home district.
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O'Neill was elected to the congressional seat vacated bySenator-electJohn F. Kennedy in 1952. He would be reelected 16 more times, never facing serious opposition. His district, centered around the northern half of Boston, was originally numbered as the 11th District, but became the 8th District in 1963.
During his second term in the House, O'Neill was selected to theHouse Rules Committee where he proved a crucial asset for the Democratic leadership, particularly his mentor, fellow Boston congressman and later Speaker,John William McCormack.[4] O'Neill voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[5][6]1960,[7][8]1964,[9][10] and1968,[11][12] as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[13][14][15] O'Neill voted against theAlaska Statehood Act[16] but in favor of theHawaii Admission Act.[17]
After wrestling with the issues surrounding theVietnam War, in 1967 O'Neill broke with PresidentLyndon B. Johnson and came out in opposition to America's involvement.[3] O'Neill wrote in his autobiography that he also became convinced that the conflict in Vietnam was a civil war and that US involvement was morally wrong. While the decision cost O'Neill some support among older voters in his home district, he benefited from new support among students and faculty members at the many colleges and universities there. In the House of Representatives itself, O'Neill picked up the trust and support of younger House members who shared his antiwar views, and they became important friends who contributed to O'Neill's rise through the ranks in the House.[4]
In 1971, O'Neill was appointedMajority Whip in the House, the number three position for the Democratic Party in the House. Two years later, in 1973, he was electedHouse Majority Leader, following the disappearance of a small plane carrying Majority LeaderHale Boggs and CongressmanNick Begich in Alaska. As Majority Leader, O'Neill was the most prominent Democrat in the House to call for theimpeachment of PresidentRichard M. Nixon in light of theWatergate scandal.
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As a result of theTongsun Park influence-peddling scandal,House SpeakerCarl Albert retired from Congress and O'Neill was elected speaker in 1977, the same year thatJimmy Carter became president.
Tongsun Park had not directly paid O'Neill, although Park's parties in his honor and a new scandal involving a nursing home in which O'Neill had invested $5,000 as a small-business loan in violation of federal law raised questions of impropriety, but did not prevent his reelection.[18]
With substantial majorities in both houses of Congress and control of the White House, O'Neill hoped that Democrats would be able to implement their legislation, includinguniversal health care and guaranteed jobs programs. However, the Democrats lackedparty discipline, and while the Carter administration and O'Neill started out strong with the passage of ethics and energy packages in 1977, there were major stumbles. Troubles began with Carter's threats toveto a water-projects bill, a pet project of many members of Congress. O'Neill and other Democratic leaders were also upset by Carter's appointments of a number of his fellow Georgians, whom O'Neill considered arrogant and parochial, to federal offices and White House staff.
O'Neill was also dismayed by Carter's frugal behavior in cutting executive staff and reducing the scale of White House entertainment. Carter even ended the practice of serving hard liquor at the White House to guests as a cost cutting measure.[19] As Carter's term began in early 1977, Democratic leaders onCapitol Hill were invited to the White House for a breakfast where Carter served them sugar cookies and coffee. O'Neill, a man of expansive appetite expecting the traditional eggs and sausage, said, "Mr. President... you know, we won the election." Carter was a reform-minded executive who often clashed with O'Neill on legislation. O'Neill wanted to reward loyal Democrats with projects at a time when Carter wanted to reduce government spending. A continually weakening economy and theIran hostage crisis made prospects bleak for Carter and the Democrats in the 1980congressional andpresidential elections.
O'Neill was a leading opponent of theReagan administration's domestic and defense policies. Following the 1980 election, with theU.S. Senate controlled by Republicans, O'Neill became the leader of the congressional opposition. O'Neill even went as far as callingRonald Reagan "the most ignorant man who had ever occupied the White House,"[4] "Herbert Hoover with a smile", and "a cheerleader for selfishness." He also said that Reagan's policies meant that his presidency was "one big Christmas party for the rich." Privately, O'Neill and Reagan were always on cordial terms, or, as Reagan wrote in his memoirs, they were friends "after 6 p.m.". In that same memoir, when questioned by Reagan regarding a personal attack against the president that had made the paper, O'Neill explained that "before 6 p.m. it's all politics".[20] Reagan once compared O'Neill to the classic arcade gamePac-Man in a speech, saying that he was "a round thing that gobbles up money." He also once joked he had received avalentine card from O'Neill: "I knew it was from Tip, because theheart was bleeding."
However, O'Neill gave tacit approval to Democratic congressmanCharlie Wilson to implement theReagan Doctrine in theSoviet-Afghan war. Wilson's position on the appropriations committees, and his close relations with CIA officerGust Avrakotos, allowed him to steer billions of dollars to theMujahideen through the CIA andZia ul-Haq'sISI.[21]
There was some contention aboutconstitutional order of succession, which involved O'Neill, whenReagan was shot in March 1981. Secretary of StateAlexander Haig famously said that he was "in control here" in response to a question as to who was in charge (with the president under anesthesia and Vice PresidentGeorge Bush traveling), but it was later pointed out that O'Neill was next in line after Bush. Reagan was only unconscious for a few hours, and no formal invocation of the line of succession took place.
On October 21, 1986, O'Neill, representing President Reagan, threw out theceremonial first pitch at Game 3 of the1986 World Series, played atFenway Park.
One of O'Neill's accomplishments as speaker involvedNorthern Ireland. O'Neill worked with fellow Irish-American politiciansNew York governorHugh Carey, SenatorEdward Kennedy, and SenatorDaniel Patrick Moynihan to craft a peace accord between the warring factions. Beginning with the "Saint Patrick's Day declaration" in 1977, denouncing violence inNorthern Ireland and culminating with the Irish aid package upon the signing of theAnglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, the "Four Horsemen", as they were called, convinced both Carter and Reagan to press the British government on the subject.[22][23] In 1981, O'Neill also created theFriends of Ireland with Kennedy and Moynihan, an organization to promote peace in Northern Ireland.[24]
O'Neill was made anhonorary Irish citizen (an honor granting legally full citizenship) by theRepublic of Ireland in 1986.[25][26]
After retiring from Congress in 1987, O'Neill published his autobiography,Man of the House. Though it had a mixed reception by critics it became a national best-seller. The book also helped turn him into a national icon, and O'Neill starred in a number of commercials, including those forTrump Shuttle,Commodore Computers, Quality International Budget Hotels and forMiller Lite, in which he appeared withBob Uecker. Critics, however, noted some inaccuracies with his book such as his views of theGrenada invasion conflicting with his public opinions of the time,David Powers questioning that John F. Kennedy's aideKenneth O'Donnell allegedly heard more shots during his assassination in a conversation with O'Neill, and SenatorBarbara Mikulski saying that "Tip has his memoirs mixed up," regarding opposition towards O'Neill endorsingGeraldine Ferraro in the1984 vice presidential election.[27]
In 1987, O'Neill received theFreedom Medal.
On November 18, 1991, O'Neill was presented with thePresidential Medal of Freedom by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush.[28]
In retirement, O'Neill, who suffered fromcolon cancer, made public service advertisements about cancer in which he joined athletes and movie stars in talking candidly about having the disease.
O'Neill was referenced as an example of physical humor in theStar Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Outrageous Okona" when a holographic comedian names O'Neill and posits that him wearing a dress would qualify as funny. This is the result of the androidData trying to gain a comprehension of comedy, a talent that he does not possess.
O'Neill's emergence as a cultural figure was not restricted to commercials. Four years before his retirement, he had a cameo role in the February 17, 1983, episode ofCheers entitled "No Contest," which featured him ducking into the bar to escapeDiane Chambers, who had pestered him on the street about his political ideals.[29][30] The show, which was ranked 60th in theNielsen ratings at that time, jumped 20 places the following week. He appeared in an episode of theNBC sitcomSilver Spoons, which featured him delivering a mock press conference praising recurring character Freddy Lippincottleman's efforts on behalf of the homeless.[31] O'Neill also made a brief appearance in the 1993 filmDave as himself, assessing the work of the fictional American president in the movie. He also voiced narration for a segment of theKen Burns seriesBaseball in which O'Neill, a lifelongRed Sox fan, readThe Boston Globe from the day the Red Sox won the1918 World Series.
In the comic stripShoe, the character Sen. Batson D. Belfry is modeled after O'Neill.
O'Neill was portrayed byDan Lauria in the 2024 filmReagan.
O'Neill resided on 26 Russell Street in North Cambridge, although he had lived as a child around the corner on Orchard St. He had a vacation home on Woodland Rd. near Bank Street Beach inHarwich Port, Massachusetts.[32] His wife was Mildred "Millie" Anne Miller (1914–2003). They had five children. His oldest son and namesake,Thomas P. O'Neill III, a formerlieutenant governor of Massachusetts, works in public relations in Boston. Another son, Christopher, is aWashington lawyer. His third son, Michael, is deceased. Daughter Susan has a business in Washington, D.C., and the other daughter, Rosemary (died July 20, 2022) was a political officer for theState Department.
In 1980, O'Neill was awarded theLaetare Medal by theUniversity of Notre Dame, considered the most prestigious award forAmerican Catholics.[33]
He is the grandfather of actor Thomas Philip O'Neill IV.[34]
O'Neill died from cardiac arrest atBrigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on January 5, 1994, at the age of 81.[4] PresidentBill Clinton paid tribute to him, saying, "Tip O'Neill was the nation's most prominent, powerful and loyal champion of working people... He loved politics and government because he saw that politics and government could make a difference in people's lives. And he loved people most of all."[4] Millie died in 2003 and is buried near her husband, at Mount Pleasant Cemetery inHarwich Port, Massachusetts.
TheThomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel, built through downtownBoston as part of theBig Dig to carryInterstate 93 under Boston, was named after him. Other structures named after him include aHouse Office Building, theO'Neill Branch of the Cambridge Public Library (including an outdoor mural[35]), theThomas P. O'Neill Jr. Federal Building in Boston, afederal office building in Washington, D.C.,[36] a golf course in Cambridge, and the main library (and the plaza in front of it) at his alma mater,Boston College.
On June 22, 2008, the playAccording to Tip debuted inWatertown, Massachusetts, produced by theNew Repertory Theatre. The one-man biographical play, written by longtime Boston sportswriterDick Flavin, features O'Neill telling stories of his life, from his childhood to after his retirement in politics.Tony Award winnerKen Howard played the title role in the premiere production.[37]
In December 2012, theJohn F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum hosted a forum to celebrate thecentennial of O'Neill's birth.[38] O'Neill himself contributed several oral history interviews to its archives chronicling his work for the Democratic party and friendship with President Kennedy.
Dr Hill is just the 11th person to be awarded honorary citizenship since the foundation of the State.
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