Tip O'Neill

Tip O'Neill
O'Neill in 1978
47th Speaker 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 the House 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 from Massachusetts
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 the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1947–1949
Preceded by	John Flaherty
Succeeded by	Charles Gibbons
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 3rd 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	Mildred Miller ​ (m. 1941)​
Children	5, including Thomas
Education	Boston College (BA)
Tip O'Neill's voice Tip O'Neill speaks on President Ronald Reagan's planned changes to Social Security Recorded September 25, 1981

Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American Democratic Party politician from Massachusetts who served as the 47th 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 northern Boston in the House from 1953 to 1987.

Born in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, O'Neill began campaigning at a young age by volunteering for Al Smith's campaign in the 1928 presidential election. After graduating from Boston College, he won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he became a strong advocate of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies. He became Speaker of the Massachusetts House in 1949 and won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1952 to succeed John F. Kennedy.

In the U.S. House, O'Neill became a protégé of fellow Boston Representative John William McCormack. O'Neill broke with President Lyndon B. Johnson on the Vietnam War in 1967 and called for Richard Nixon's resignation in light of the Watergate 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 President Jimmy Carter, O'Neill hoped to establish a universal health care system and a guaranteed jobs program. However, relations between Carter and Congress deteriorated, and Carter lost re-election in the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, a conservative Republican. 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 the Anglo-Irish Agreement and implementing the Reagan Doctrine (despite considerable opposition to Reagan's support for the Contras in Nicaragua) in the Soviet–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.