37 Facts About Tip O'Neill

1.

Tip O'Neill became Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1949 and won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1952 to the seat vacated by John F Kennedy.

2.

Tip O'Neill 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.

3.

Tip O'Neill became a leading opponent of Republican President Ronald Reagan's conservative domestic policies.

4.

Tip O'Neill retired from Congress in 1987 but remained active in public life.

5.

Tip O'Neill published a best-selling autobiography and appeared in several commercials and other media.

6.

Tip O'Neill was educated in Roman 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 church St John the Evangelist Church.

7.

Tip O'Neill first became active in politics at 15, campaigning for Al Smith in his 1928 presidential campaign.

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8.

Tip O'Neill was "an absolute, unrepentant, unreconstructed New Deal Democrat," Farrell wrote.

9.

Tip O'Neill remained in that post until 1952, when he ran for the United States House of Representatives from his home district.

10.

Tip O'Neill would be reelected 16 more times, never facing serious opposition.

11.

Tip O'Neill's district, centered around the northern half of Boston, was originally numbered as the 11th District, but became the 8th District in 1963.

12.

Tip O'Neill voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,1960,1964, and 1968, as well as the 24th Amendment to the US Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

13.

Tip O'Neill voted against the Alaska Statehood Act but in favor of the Hawaii Admission Act.

14.

Tip O'Neill wrote in his autobiography that he became convinced that the conflict in Vietnam was a civil war and that US involvement was morally wrong.

15.

In 1971, Tip O'Neill was appointed Majority Whip in the House, the number three position for the Democratic Party in the House.

16.

However, the Democrats lacked party discipline, and while the Carter administration and Tip O'Neill started out strong with the passage of ethics and energy packages in 1977, there were major stumbles.

17.

Tip O'Neill wanted to reward loyal Democrats with projects at a time when Carter wanted to reduce government spending.

18.

Tip O'Neill was a leading opponent of the Reagan administration's domestic and defense policies.

19.

In that same memoir, when questioned by Reagan regarding a personal attack against the president that had made the paper, Tip O'Neill explained that "before 6 pm it's all politics".

20.

However, Tip O'Neill gave tacit approval to Democratic congressman Charlie Wilson to implement the Reagan Doctrine in the Soviet-Afghan war.

21.

Secretary of State Alexander Haig famously said that he was "in control here" in response to a question as to who was in charge, but it was later pointed out that Tip O'Neill was next in line after Bush.

22.

Tip O'Neill worked with fellow Irish-American politicians New York governor Hugh Carey, Senator Edward Kennedy, and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan to craft a peace accord between the warring factions.

23.

In 1981, Tip O'Neill created the Friends of Ireland with Kennedy and Moynihan, an organization to promote peace in Northern Ireland.

24.

Tip O'Neill was made an honorary Irish citizen by the Republic of Ireland in 1986.

25.

The book helped turn him into a national icon, and Tip O'Neill starred in a number of commercials, including those for Trump Shuttle, Commodore Computers, Quality International Budget Hotels and for Miller Lite, in which he appeared with Bob Uecker.

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26.

In retirement, Tip O'Neill, who suffered from colon cancer, made public service advertisements about cancer in which he joined athletes and movie stars in talking candidly about having the disease.

27.

Tip O'Neill was referenced as an example of physical humor in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Outrageous Okona" when a holographic comedian names Tip O'Neill and posits that him wearing a dress would qualify as funny.

28.

Tip O'Neill appeared in an episode of the NBC sitcom Silver Spoons, which featured him delivering a mock press conference praising recurring character Freddy Lippincottleman's efforts on behalf of the homeless.

29.

Tip O'Neill made a brief appearance in the 1993 film Dave as himself, assessing the work of the fictional American president in the movie.

30.

Tip O'Neill voiced narration for a segment of the Ken Burns series Baseball in which O'Neill, a lifelong Red Sox fan, read The Boston Globe from the day the Red Sox won the 1918 World Series.

31.

Tip 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.

32.

In 1980, Tip O'Neill was awarded the Laetare Medal by the University of Notre Dame, considered the most prestigious award for American Catholics.

33.

Tip O'Neill is the grandfather of actor Thomas Philip O'Neill IV.

34.

Tip O'Neill died from cardiac arrest at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on January 5,1994, at the age of 81.

35.

Tip O'Neill loved politics and government because he saw that politics and government could make a difference in people's lives.

36.

On June 22,2008, the play According to Tip O'Neill debuted in Watertown, Massachusetts, produced by the New Repertory Theatre.

37.

Tip O'Neill himself contributed several oral history interviews to its archives chronicling his work for the Democratic party and friendship with President Kennedy.