Circle 010: Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Congress and Carter, December 12, 1977

He told of a promise from the past: "James Michael Curley threatened to beat our state with a Chinaman on his ticket, and he did!" He told of a promise of the future: "Jimmy Carter can be a great President and with the help of the Congress, I think he will be." The air was filled with Irish tales and high-level national politics as the 10th New England Circle heard from one of America's foremost statesmen and storytellers, Thomas P. 'Tip' O'Neill Jr., Congressman from Cambridge, Massachusetts and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The legislative accomplishments of the current Congress have been overshadowed by other events, O'Neill said, including the current energy bill which Congress is still trying to resolve.

The Speaker handled any and all questions, then he thought he'd answer another one by saying "That reminds me of a story..." This got the audience set to laugh, which we did, and after sharing state secrets and Hibernian charm, the Speaker left us laughing.

By Martin Nolan (Washington Correspondent, Boston Globe / Harvard Fellow)