Man of the House: The Life & Political Memoirs of Speaker Tip O'Neill [Hardcover]

Tip O'Neill (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First Printing edition (August 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394565053
• ISBN-13: 978-0394565057
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and enlightening, March 23, 2001

By 

Andrew McCaffrey "The Grumpy Young Man" (Satellite of Love, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Man of the House: The Life & Political Memoirs of Speaker Tip O'Neill (Hardcover)

MAN OF THE HOUSE reads more like a conversation with a favourite grandparent than the memoirs of someone with fifty years of experience in politics and the book is the better for it. The book is vaguely set up in chronological order starting from his childhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts and ending with his retirement from his position as Speaker of the House. But Tip (one feels to be on a first-name basis after the familiar tone of the book) sprinkles many anecdotes and jokes throughout the text, giving it a conversational flavour instead of reading like a straight history.

O'Neill does not try to hide the fact that he is a Democrat and an extremely partisan one at that. However, he does not let his philosophies blind him to what people really are. He remembers the flaws that were present in some of his Democratic colleagues and speaks about the good qualities in the Republicans in Congress. Partisanship never gets in the way of friendship and he recalls many stories of socializing with members of both parties after a day spent fighting legislative battles.

It's fascinating to read about (what is now) history through the eyes of someone who was witnessing first-hand so much of it. An entire chapter is dedicated to the Watergate scandal of the Nixon years and we can see it unfolding as he saw it. Nixon can be seen through the eyes of someone who was not a part of his close inner-circle, but who was closer than the general public. He offers his thoughts on the pardon given by President Ford and his mixed feelings on the subject.

All the Presidents that he worked with are given a chapter of their own where O'Neill offers praise, criticism and a few humourous anecdotes. As expected, fellow Bostonian Jack Kennedy receives the most attention, having one chapter dedicated to him and another to his family. O'Neill describes a man who surrounded himself by a team of people that were the best in the business when it came to getting someone elected, but who really did not have the first clue in how to deal with legislators.

O'Neill describes many of the battles he had with Kennedy's successor, President Johnson, on the subject of Vietnam. O'Neill broke from the President's position and was quite vocal in his condemnation of the war. The deep division in the Congress and the conversations he had with the President are given a lot of attention. O'Neill details how, while agreeing with the sentiments of the protestors, he felt that they were distracting from the message. Every time someone would smash a window in anger during a gathering, instead of reports of general unrest, the story in the press would be that this was another action supported by Tip.

The last two presidents that Tip served with were the two in office during his tenure as Speaker of the House. President Carter, the Democrat, and President Reagan, the Republican, are seen to Tip as being almost complete opposites. Where every conversation O'Neill had with Carter demonstrated the President's obvious knowledge in on a given subject, virtually all Reagan had to talk about were old movies and baseball. The main difference in their leadership styles, and what Tip found so frustrating, was the difference in which the two men viewed the Congress. Carter took a much more passive role, not really understanding the way that Washington worked. In contrast, Reagan would be constantly on the phone to the members of Congress, sweet-talking them into supporting his bills.

This was a very interesting read and I highly recommend it. O'Neill himself comes across as a very warm and friendly person who, in all his years in government, never forgot where he came from. His fights over various pieces of legislation down the years always came down to a simple desire to help the little guy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insight Into The Man and Politics, May 15, 2000

By 

Wayne A. Smith (Newark, DE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Man of the House: The Life & Political Memoirs of Speaker Tip O'Neill (Hardcover)

Although Tip O'Neill did not represent my views on most issues, this books shows why he was generally respected as a steward of the House of Representatives. Congenial, warm and partisan, O'Neill was a master of the inside game of politics. This book describes his rise in the rough and tumble world of Bay State politics and his battles in the House that successfully elevated him to Speaker (With a little help from Dan Rostenkowski, who embarrassed Carl Albert at the 68 Dem. convention on the orders of Pres. Johnson). People liked O'Neill without always liking where he wanted to take the country. Even he and President Reagan liked and joked with each other while they were locked in mortal political battle over redirecting the United States government.

O'Neill is likeable in this book -- the book is likeable, also.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Insight Into Politics of Old, April 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Man of the House: The Life & Political Memoirs of Speaker Tip O'Neill (Hardcover)

Tip O'Neill is the definitive old-time politician. A man who still stands by morals and ethics and is resistant to media and other bad things. At least, that's the way his book presents him. In truth he was a very good man who did many good things and the book is an exceptionally interesting look into those events and how he views them.