When was tip oneill speaker of the house

Before Trump reaches out to Democrats, if that is his intention, he needs to decide who he is. Is he an economic populist or a trickle-down supply-sider?

Is he a protectionist or a free trader who merely talks tough? Is he a big-government nationalist or a small-government Republican? At the moment, Trump is talking like a populist and acting like a Paul Ryan Republican. The health-care bill would have amounted to a substantial tax cut for the very rich, financed by cuts in Medicaid, which serves the poor. The White House has yet to put forward a complete tax plan, but the proposal Trump campaigned on was hugely regressive.

If it were enacted, the top tax rate would be reduced from Meanwhile, the Administration is quietly going about the business of stripping away regulations in order to benefit corporations. Working with its own conservative appointees and Republicans in Congress, it has already relaxed rules preventing mining companies from polluting streams and other sources of drinking water, passed a bill that rolls back workplace-safety regulations, and reversed an Obama Administration policy to stop employing private companies to run federal prisons.

Trump has also proposed a Voldemort budget that demands sweeping cuts everywhere except the Pentagon. It would even cut programs that support after-school activities for poor kids and Meals on Wheels deliveries for the elderly. He lost by votes.

It was the only loss in a lengthy political career. He graduated from college in Disappointed but not discouraged by his city council loss, Tip threw his hat in the ring for a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives not long after he finished college. He won. He saw the misery inflicted on his friends and neighbors by the Great Depression, and he also saw how government could affect their lives positively.

It was an insight into the value of government policies and programs that he never forgot. In , he became the first Democratic speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in history. He held the post until shortly before he entered Congress in Early in his career in the U.

House of Representatives, he supported John McCormack, who became House majority leader and later speaker. Initially, he supported President Lyndon B. Now he would correct the error. Two years later, he became the House majority leader after a small airplane carrying Louisiana Congressman Hale Boggs disappeared in Alaska. Boggs was serving as majority leader at the time.

He was not declared dead until early in The declaration opened up a special election for his replacement. In , House Speaker Carl Albert retired from Congress after he was accused of accepting bribes and gifts from a lobbyist working for the South Korean government.

Tip had urged Albert to step aside as the scandal blossomed. His decades of political experience and seniority paid off. Clancy, Paul, and Shirley Elder. Tip: A Biography of Thomas P. O'Neill, Speaker of the House. New York: Macmillan, Farrell, John A. Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century. Boston: Little, Brown, O'Neill, Thomas P. Tip O'Neills Elements of Politics. Tarrytown, N. New York: Times Books, Despite the public vitriol, the two were always on friendly terms. In one interview, President Reagan mentioned that he had seen Tip make unflattering comments about Reagan.

Reagan called Tip to ask why the attacks, that he thought these two were friends. After 6 p. When it came to foreign affairs and our involvement in the Soviet-Afghan war, Tip gave his approval and through his House positions ensured that billions went to the Mujahideen. Tip was also very involved in the peace efforts in Northern Ireland. He and several other congressional leaders helped to achieve peace between Northern Ireland and England.

Tip died on January 5, , of cardiac arrest. President Bill Clinton said of Tip at his death:. While Tip and Reagan had different political views and approaches, they showed that great debates and the efforts of compromise sometimes can result in good end results for the nation.