O'Neill to Receive Degree After 50 Years of Service

"It was at Harvard University in 1927 that I first decided to go into politics," says Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr., the nation's Speaker of the House for the last decade, in his memoirs to be published in the fall. Watching the University's 276th Commencement day exercises--with graduating seniors replete in white suits, drenching each other in bootleg champagne--the teenager made his career choice.

As he "watched those privileged, competent Ivy League Yankees who had everything in life," O'Neill vowed to "work to make sure my own people could go to places like Harvard."

O'Neill's experience on that summer day 60 years ago laid the foundations for his political career, which has raised both him and his community to prominence. Most recently, the staunchly liberal Democrat has won praise and admiration for leading the opposition to the Reagan domestic policy revolution of tax and social program cuts.

"He was one of the only ones to have the guts to stand up to President Reagan when he was at his strongest," says Rep. Barney Frank '62 (D-Ma.).

But despite his long years of service to the district and his national prominence, Harvard never bestowed an honorary degree on O'Neill, something which has wounded him deeply, according to friends. This prompted public figures, including Cambridge and Boston politicians, to pressure Harvard to award him an honorary.

"The degree is long overdue when you consider that Harvard gave [U.S. Attorney General] Ed Meese a medal last year but did not honor one of the men who has done the most for the people of the city," says Joseph P. Kennedy II, (D.--Ma.), who won O'Neill's vacated seat in November.

"Harvard's finally turning their head to look at the local people who have done a great job for their country," says Cambridge City Councilor Sheila Russell.

O'Neill can also count among the successes in his long career of public service the transformation of the office of the Speaker itself from a position of importance within the Congress to one of significance in the nation and the world.

However, the increased visibility which the Cambridge resident brought to the office made him a prime target for attacks from the Right. The leader of the House from 1976-86, O'Neill was often depicted following the economically troubled 1970's as representative of the Democratic Party: bloated, big spending, and too liberal.

Although O'Neill gradually rose to become the most powerful and prominent Speaker in the age of modern politics, he never forgot the local roots that helped him get there.

Using his powerful positions not only as Speaker, but as a member of the House Rules committee from 1954-72, majority whip from 1971-72, and majority leader from 1972-76, O'Neill unabashedly promoted the interests of the Eighth Congressional District.

"Tip did more for Boston and Cambridge than any other local figure in the last 50 years," Frank says. The Speaker worked hard to bring money and jobs to his district, including recent efforts to keep a local arsenal open and to improve Boston's tangled expressways.

"He's a tough act to follow because he did so much for the District from his position as speaker," says Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-Ma.), who won O'Neill's vacated seat in November.

While O'Neill felt more comfortable with the largely ethnic, blue collar constituency of Cambridge, rather than the more intellectual university crowd of Harvard, Tufts, and MIT, he rarely failed to introduce and support bills favorable to the entire district.

Serving Under Seven

O'Neill ended a half-century of public service when the 99th Congress ended in January. Born on December 9, 1912, the ambitious Townie grew up in the midst of the Depression and received his undergraduate degree in 1936 from Boston College.

A year after his graduation, O'Neill won a seat as a State representative and in 1948 became the first Democratic speaker of the Statehouse in Massachusetts history.

Once in the Capitol where he has served under seven presidents, O'Neill was taken under the wing of Speaker John McCormack from Massachusetts. Quickly learning the cloakroom style of politics favored by his mentor, O'Neill immediately began ensuring that Boston and Cambridge would win its share of public works and military contracts.

However, as O'Neill matured politically he began to involve himself in debates on national issues. In 1967, he led a small handful of Democratic Congressmen in rebelling against President Lyndon B. Johnson's leadership by opposing the escalation of the Vietnam war.

O'Neill then became a crucial figure in the Watergate crisis in 1973. When Speaker Carl Albert of Oklahoma failed to act after Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, the then-majority leader swiftly moved in to continue House investigations. He gave Congressman Peter Rodino of New Jersey the green light to begin impeachment procedures, becoming one of the crucial figures causing President Richard M. Nixon's resignation.