There have been many great men involved in politics such as John Kennedy, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. In an age of media savvy, blow dried pretty boys therewas a man who was a cigar smoking, card playing backroom kind of guy. This man wasgenuinely one of the people. Tip O’Neill was an unabashed liberal, he was aback-of-the-envelope man who trusted his instincs and didn’t need polls to tell him whatto do (Merry 1). He made a significant impact in the field of politics.Tip O’Neill grew up never knowing his mother. When he was nine months old hismother died of tuberculosis. Years later, one of the nuns at the local church he attendedtold him how, when he was an infant, she had taken care of Tip when his family attendedhis mothers funeral. All through his childhood, the nuns, knowing he didn’t have amother, kept watch over him (Novac 10). Tip ended up growing up close to his remainingfamily which included his father, Thomas O’Neill and older siblings Bill and Mary O’Neill. Tip’s father raised his children well and disciplined (Novac 9). After Tip’s mothers death,his father hired a French-Canadian from Nova Scotia named Rose LeBlanc. Rose dideverything for Tips family and became a second mother to him. She stayed with them forsix years. At the age of eight, Tip’s father married a lady named Mary Cain. It wasn’t ahappy union, and Bill and Mary, who were teenagers, never really got along with her(Novac 11).When Tip O’Neill was seven years old he was sent to Gaelic School, which met onSunday afternoons. He learned a few Gaelic phrases and a couple of songs but his Irisheducation didn’t last long. His teacher died of a hunger strike and his teacher’ssister-in-law wouldn’t allow Tip back into the school (Novac 8). By the time Tip waseight people started calling him “Tip”. That nickname came from a popular baseballplayer...
