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

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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.

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.

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.

The man who coined this phrase, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, one of the most influential congressmen in history, never forgot his roots. Always looking out for "the little guys" who elected him, but always making them feel like "big guys," Tip O'Neill never lost an election following his elevation to the Massachusetts House in 1936 at age twenty-two. Sixteen years later, he received a private tip from John F. Kennedy, a year ahead of time, that JFK would be giving up his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1952, and O'Neill prepared early and ran for and won that seat, soon becoming as savvy a backroom politician as old Joe Kennedy ever was, and considerably more honest. As Speaker of the House from 1977 until his retirement in 1987, O'Neill enjoyed his role as a power broker, while improving the lives of ordinary citizens instead of feathering his own nest.

With William Novak acting as writer/recorder, O'Neill reminisces like the consummate "Irish politician" that he was, telling lively stories about the country's most powerful leaders, often telling "tales out of school" in the interest of "honesty." Every reader will know exactly how O'Neill felt about each of the Presidents and politicians with whom he worked. He helped JFK try to buy off Edward McCormack (unsuccessfully) when McCormack was running for Senate against Teddy, but he disliked Bobby, considering him a "self-important upstart and a know-it-all." Though he disagreed with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution authorizing LBJ to "take all necessary measures" in Vietnam, he voted for it, then publicly changed his mind, a move that infuriated LBJ, who needed all the support he could muster.

His observations of Nixon suggest that Nixon, a master manipulator, completely lost touch with reality regarding Watergate, joking about issues that were not even slightly funny. He regarded Jimmy Carter as naïve and completely unable to get anything done, in part because he surrounded himself with people O'Neill considered arrogant, especially "Hannible Jerkin." And he never understood how Ronald Reagan could have managed two terms as President when his grasp of issues was so limited, citing an example in which Reagan confused President Grover Cleveland with the ballplayer Grover Cleveland Alexander. Reagan, he says, was often speechless at State Dinners, until the topic turned to movies and Hollywood.

Though Tip O'Neill's most memorable legacy may be that he brought The Big Dig to Boston and changed the face of the city, he never failed to sponsor legislation which would benefit poor "little guys." In this fascinating, sometimes gritty depiction of backroom political maneuvering, O'Neill elevates power broking to an art form with politicians as the artists, creating an unforgettable tale of old-time politics the likes of which we will probably never see again. Mary Whipple

All Politics Is Local: And Other Rules of the Game
Memorial addresses and tributes in honor of Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr. : late a speaker of the House and a representative from Massachusetts (SuDoc Y 1.1/7:103-340)
Tip O' Neill and the Democratic Century: A Biography