Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 7, 1994 TAG: 9401070049
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
But former House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr., the consummate politician of 40 years who died Wednesday night, became one of the most popular public men of his time, achieving something akin to folk hero status.
Media advisers called him awkward on television - too "hot" for a "cool" medium - but finally gave up and told him to be himself.
Those who associated with him or observed him over his years as speaker of the House said that O'Neill managed, without trying, to convey his real personality over television, the means through which most Americans get to know their political leaders.
"Somehow he projected his humanity," said Washington lawyer Stanley Brand, a longtime O'Neill associate in the House of Representatives.
The speaker's thatch of white hair and his bulbous nose made him so widely recognizable that Madison Avenue saw him as a gem, someone with credibility. He was cast in commercials for a light beer, a motel chain, a New England bank, an airline, a computer company and Hush Puppies.
American Express pictured him - "cardmember since 1973" - sitting on the beach in khakis and a blue cardigan, newspapers scattered about.
Why O'Neill? "He was a legend," said American Express spokeswoman Maureen Bailey. "He was a man universally admired and respected."
Some thought it was in bad taste for him to make ads, but he dealt with the doubts with a candid explanation: He was not a rich man, he said, and he wanted to leave something for the grandchildren.
For the last six years of Ronald Reagan's presidency, O'Neill was the only Democratic official wielding power at the national level.
"In 1981, he made a hard choice," Brand said. "He said, `I can roll over and go along with Reagan or stick to the principles that got me here, even if that means I'm thrown out.' He did that, and, lo and behold, it took hold. The Democrats picked up 26 seats in 1982, and in '86 regained the Senate."
"He was always on the tube during the Reagan era," said his biographer, Paul Clancy.
"His personality came straight through - those blue eyes, that gruff face. I think people knew he was leveling with them. Everybody saw Tip as a friend. He came across as the genuine article."
The only comparable politician of the times, said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., was Reagan. What they shared, he said, was an Irish love of storytelling and a gift for indicating they were having a good time "and not acting as if they were doing everyone a favor." That and their status as old men.
"The fact that they were old and trying hard - people liked that," Frank said. "People tend to be more trusting of old people. You can't accuse them of doing something for reasons other than that they believe in it. Their legitimacy comes across."
Notre Dame professor Robert Schmuhl hit on the same point. "There was a twinkle in both of their eyes, and the American people could see that twinkle," he said. "It meant that, although they had opposite views, they had what they thought to be the best interests of the country at heart."
by CNB