O'Neill, Tip, 1912-1994

Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr., in full Thomas Phillip O’Neill, Jr., byname Tip O’Neill, (born December 19, 1912, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.—died January 5, 1994, Boston, Massachusetts), American politician who served as a Democratic representative from Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives (1953–87) and as speaker of the House (1977–86). He was a tireless advocate for social causes, and he frequently expressed his belief that it is the responsibility of the government to contribute to the good of society by helping the poor, the underprivileged, and the unemployed.

O’Neill grew up in a working-class section of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where his father served on the Cambridge City Council. As a teenager, he joined the 1928 presidential campaign of Democratic New York Gov. Al Smith after learning that Smith, like O’Neill, was an Irish Catholic. In 1932 he campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt. He graduated from Boston College in 1936, the same year he won election to the Massachusetts state House of Representatives, where he served until 1952. In 1953 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the seat vacated by John F. Kennedy after Kennedy was elected to the U.S. Senate.

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