Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century: A Biography

This book is an excellent resource for all who aspire to be politicians and wish to learn the the way the political process really works in our nation. John Farrell does an excellent job in profiling Tip O'Neill and putting O'Neill's actions and principles in the context of the issues of his day (i.e. the New Deal, the Vietnam War, Watergate and other issues). When doing this, Farrell uses the phrase " it was in this backdrop.... When writing a biography, it is crucial to explain the currrent events that impacted the world of those being profiled. Farrell mastered this principle of biography writing. O'Neill is a fascinating individual to study, i was especially taken back at how prevalent is the belief that machnine politics is always corrupt and the politicians that it produces are inept. This is not true. O'Neill was typecasted as a corrupt machine politician by some, in my view, because of his down to earth personality and some of his political tactics. The Kennedy's also used this "machine" to their advantage but they were never viewed by anyone as machine politicians. Although I am not Irish, there was clearly some anti-Irish prejudice in the attitudes of some who disliked O'Neill.This book gave me a very clear picture of Irish American history and the role politics played in its history. Farrell also touches on the ideological rift in the Democratic party. I highly recommend this book and i hope this review was useful.Andres J. Ledesma, New York City

John A. Farrell's "Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century" earns a place with the finest works of journalism and political history - first because the author sets himself two lofty goals, and second because he accomplishes both of them in grand fashion. First, Farrell's book is a wonderful portrait of a preeminent New Deal politician - a man who not only came of age in the Great Depression, but who also found his political moorings there. The central goal of Tip O'Neill's political philosophy was aiding his constituents, block-by-block and neighborhood-by-neighborhood. Farrell makes clear that the former Speaker had an intimate connection with the folks who elected him, and that, however high he rose, O'Neill was always eminently down-to-earth and approachable. In reading this book against the backdrop of a political culture has been overtaken by endless polling, focus groups and televised spinmeisters, it's reaffirming to know that there was a time not so long ago when a major politician chatted up voters in a local barbershop, or steadfastly bought his suits at the same haberdasher decade after decade. A second, but no less significant achievement of Farrell's book, is as a detailed political history of the last century. If one only considers the two political figures that bookended O'Neill's career - at the start, Boston Mayor and flamboyant rogue James Michael Curley and at the end President Ronald Reagan - that gives a strong sense of just how much politics and public life changed over that 50 or so years. O'Neill began his career in a time when concern about the size of government was subsidiary to the goals it was intended to accomplish; a time when politicians and the public were trained on eradicating societal ills such as poverty, homelessness, joblessness, illiteracy and so on. By the time O'Neill left public life, the size and efficiency of government, particularly spending on domestic social programs, was a drum for self-proclaimed fiscal hawks to bang. Speaker O'Neill left public life in a time when Social Darwinism and exploitation of the "alienated voter" defined political discourse; a time when selfishness, greed, retrenchment from public life, and resentment of the veterans, the poor, the sick, and the mentally ill were rampant. So thoroughly denuded were the ideals of O'Neill's earlier career that President Reagan could connect with a wide swath of voters by repeatedly telling a false story about a Chicago "welfare queen" who rode around in a limousine and who ate lobster for dinner every night. Farrell shows O'Neill as someone who railed publicly against Reagan and his ilk, and who considered the President, "an Irishman who forgot where he came from." Indeed, Farrell includes wonderful color about O'Neill and his wildly divergent private and public relationships with Reagan. In the end, Farrell's book succeeds because it brings its subject into full bloom; he paints pictures not only of O'Neill, but also of the times in which

Tip O'Neill was a man of many words, many stories, and much character. In the cynical world of politics, where trust and conviction are in short supply, Tip O'Neill stood head and shoulders above the rest (and still does). O'Neill placed loyalty and honesty above all else and made politics into an art form. He was the Picasso.This is a great book about a great man. That may be the best way to recommend this book.

Much like its subject, this book is large, heavy, and packed with Irish blarney and great stories. The career of Speaker O'Neill spanned the New Deal, World War II, the Vietnam War, the great movements of the 60's, the crises of the 70's, and the Reagan Revolution of the 80's. Farrell covers it all in just under 700 pages, but you won't mind or notice because the prose flows effortlessly. It's all here: the personalities, the egos, the sleight of hand, the clashes, the politics of O'Neill and the other colorful, larger than life, forceful, and flawed people who made up Congress in the tumultuous years of the 20th century. The chapters on how O'Neill came to oppose the Vietnam War and favor Nixon's impeachment are especially good. The final chapters on how he put off retirement to be the Democratic Party's national voice against the Reagan Administration after the disastrous 1980 election are poignant without being mawkish. But even though Farrell clearly likes his subject (what's not to like?) this is not simply a political book or Democratic party propoganda. When O'Neill behaves ruthlessly, opportunistically, trims on principle (not very frequently), or takes a casual view of campaign finance ethics (very frequently), Farrell takes it all down faithfully. What emerges is a full portrait of a very human politician--his family, his friends and enemies, his finances, his values, and even his diets! Unlike most political books, this one is worth getting, even in hardcover.

Farrell has created the definative biography on Tip O'Neill, the larger than life Speaker of the House in his first book. "Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Century" is one of the best non-fiction works I have read in a very long time. The length is a little daunting - 754 pages - but by the time I finished it, I wished that there were 754 more pages to go. Farrell's honest journalism has created a masterpiece!