Thomas Philip (“Tip”) O'Neill Jr.

O'Neill, Thomas Philip (“Tip”), Jr. (1912–94), U.S. legislator. Elected to the House of Representatives (1952) as a Democrat from Massachusetts, he became majority whip (1972) and Speaker of the House (1976–86). Liberal, he was an early opponent of the Vietnam War and a critic of budget cuts for domestic programs by Presidents Carter and Reagan.