Chris Matthews Complete Library E-book Box Set: Tip and the Gipper, Jack Kennedy, Hardball, Kennedy & Nixon, Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think, and American

by Matthews, Chris

  Young O’Neill remembered: Ibid.

  O’Neill found warmth: Ibid., p. 42.

  Tip’s own lifelong moniker: Ibid., p. 13.

  Here’s Tip’s own version: MOH, pp. 6–7.

  A year later: Farrell, p. 51.

  spoke out forcefully for workplace: https://www.osha.gov/oas/trianglefactoryfireaccount.html.

  Unlike his brother William: Farrell, p. 35

  While he was still a senior: Ibid., p. 64.

  Two maxims he heard: Ibid., p. 65.

  According to Thomas Sr.: Ibid.

  what Tip should have done: Ibid.

  The second lesson: MOH, p. 26.

  “Tom, let me tell you something”: Ibid.

  In 1934 Tip was given: MOH, p. 3.

  A year after she’d gone to work: Jean Edward Smith, FDR (New York: Random House, 2007), p. xv.

  Now, Tip, thanks to: MOH, p. 3.

  Tip felt honor-bound: Farrell, p. 80.

  “Tom was never much of a”: People, August 18, 1980.

  In 1941, Tip married: Farrell, p. 83.

  He’d timed the wedding to occur: Farrell, p. 84.

  Resuming their honeymoon: Ibid.

  “Through the chairs”: Hedrick Smith interview with Tip O’Neill.

  “worked your way up through the vineyards”: MOH, p. 73.

  A wild card suddenly appeared: Ibid.

  “I had never lived very much”: Miller Center, Presidential Recordings Program, JFK, dictabelt 39.

  He, like Tip, was: MOH, p. 73.

  “By the time I met Jack Kennedy”: Ibid.

  “dirtiest campaign you ever saw”: MOH, p. 84.

  Tip soon became: Farrell, p. 144.

  To make up for his regular: Farrell, p. 146.

  rooming with another freshman: Farrell, p. 140.

  “Incidentally, I’m absolutely convinced”: MOH, p. 147.

  “I never want to see”: Jimmy Breslin, How The Good Guys Finally Won (New York: The Viking Press, 1975), p. 68.

  “Some fellas like women”: Farrell, p. 496.

  The only problem with him: MOH, p. 157.

  One week he passed on word: Ibid., p. 158.

  O’Neill, agreeing that this was fair: Ibid.

  However, with his stance: MOH, pp. 189–206, Farrell, pp. 217–26.

  “Take the gavel”: New York Times, February 6, 2000.

  Grabbing the microphone: Farrell, p. 287.

  Putting down the future: Ibid., p. 290.

  “You haven’t got an enemy”: Ibid., p. 322.

  It had all begun: Ibid., pp. 346–47.

  On August 8, 1974: Ibid., p. 380.

  “Jerry, isn’t this”: MOH, pp. 266–67.

  “Although I thought the pardon”: MOH, p. 268.

  Two years later: Farrell, p. 408.

  I was in the room: Author interview with Tom Foley.

  CHAPTER NINE: HERO

  “The happy ending is our national belief”: Mary McCarthy.

  “Well I expect that smiling”: TPO, April 7, 1981.

  “Tip was in Pago Pago”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 555.

  “I’m having more luck”: RR, April 22, 1981.

  “Because of the attempted”: TPO, April 28, 1981.

  “The warmth of your words”: Reagan speech to joint session of Congress, April 28, 1981.

  “This is only the first skirmish”: TPO, May 1, 1981.

  “I was overjoyed to see”: TPO, Remarks on the President’s Speech, April 28, 1981.

  “It is unfortunate in the”: Ibid.

  “I have been saying all”: TPO, April 29, 1981.

  “We stroked and we stroked”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 551.

  recalls getting an urgent: Author conversation with Hedrick Smith.

  “Tenderhearted and sentimental”: Reagan, My Father at 100, p. 9.

  “More meetings with”: RR, May 6, 1981.

  “to have someone explain”: TPO, May 1, 1981.

  “This was the big day”: RR, May 7, 1981.

  “I’m getting the shit”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 558.

  “I’m not talking”: TPO, May 13, 1981.

  CHAPTER TEN: FIGHTING SEASON

  “Courage for some sudden act”: Anthony Eden on Winston Churchill.

  “At that moment”: Time, May 18, 1981.

  “I’ve always suspected”: Reagan speech at Notre Dame, May 17, 1981.

  “Now, today I hear”: Ibid.

  “For too long government”: Ibid.

  “I’m opposed to the”: ABC, Issues and Answers, June 7, 1981.

  “his lifestyle”: Ibid.

  “Consequently, he doesn’t”: Ibid.

  Steven V. Roberts: New York Times, June 9, 1981.

  “Tip O’Neill says you don’t”: Presidential press conference, June 16, 1981.

  “Tip O’Neill has said”: Ibid.

  “And I know very much”: Ibid.

  “Let it go, Tom”: This was his longtime friend and senior aide, Leo Diehl.

  He’d had his political heroes: Farrell, p. 80.

  “I would never accuse a president”: Ibid., p. 574.

  “Well, I’d have to say”: Washington Post, June 17, 1981.

  Reagan phoned the Speaker: Farrell, p. 574.

  “Old buddy,” the Speaker replied: Ibid.

  “Politiburo of the Welfare State”: HS, Power Game, p. 522.

  “Hogarthian embodiment of the superstate”: David Stockman, The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed (New York: Public Affairs, 2013), p. 129.

  The president, out of patience: Farrell, p. 559.

  “Did you ever hear of the separation of powers?”: Ibid.

  “I was a Democrat myself”: HS, Power Game, p. 515.

  That night, in his diary: RR, June 18, 1981.

  “Tip O’Neill is getting rough”: RR, June 23, 1981.

  In an extraordinary step: Farrell, p. 560; Associated Press, June 26, 1981.

  But Reagan’s big victory: Farrell, pp. 559–60.

  It meant that three million seniors: United Press International, June 25, 1981.

  On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan: RR, July 7, 1981.

  “the best thing he’d done since he was inaugurated”: TPO, July 8, 1981.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN: BATTLEFIELD PROMOTION

  “I still believe that”: Ted Sorensen, Counselor (New York: HarperCollins, 2008), p. 531.

  “House Speaker Thomas”: Washington Post, July 9, 1981.

  here’s how Tip: HS interview with O’Neill, Library of Congress, pp. 69–70.

  “The interesting factor”: HS interview with O’Neill, Library of Congress, p. 15.

  “Six-thirty a”: RR, July 22, 1981.

  “This on top of the budget”: Ibid., July 29, 1981.

  “Is Tip O’Neill ready”: New York Times Magazine, August 16, 1981.

  “What I had to get used”: MOH, p. 351.

  David Rogers, an astute: Boston Globe, July 31, 1981.

  “I sure as hell hope”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 561.

  CHAPTER TWELVE: TURNING

  “Learned the Air Controllers”: RR, August 2, 1981.

  “The strike was called”: Ibid., August 3, 1981.

  Future Federal Reserve: The Reagan Legacy, Remarks of Alan Greenspan, Ronald Reagan Library, April 9, 2003.

  “If these numbers were out”: Richard Darman, Who’s in Control? Polar Politics and the Sensible Center (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 94.

  “I’m withdrawing Soc. Security”: RR, September 23, 1981.

  “I’m encouraged that between us”: Ibid., August 5, 1981.

  “It’s hard to describe”: Ibid., October 6, 1981.

  “We haven’t obstructed”: TPO, August 4, 1981.

  “They got their cuts”: Ibid., September 9, 1981.

  Look what they get for it: Ibid., October 1, 1981.

  Jakie Bloom was: MOH, p. 312.

  “The Education of”: Atlantic, December 1, 1981.

  “If
true”: RR, November 11, 1981.

  “Dave, in his heart”: TPO, November 12, 1981.

  “I think he’s going to remain”: Washington Post, November 8, 1981.

  “Tip, if I had a”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 621.

  “Reagan,” Deaver said: Ibid.

  “Tip was an old-fashioned pol”: Reagan, An American Life, p. 250.

  His son Ron believed: Author conversation with Ron Reagan.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: SUMMIT

  “Welcome, Mr. President”: Chris Matthews, Hardball: How Politics Is Played, Told by One Who Knows the Game (New York: Summit Books, 1988), p. 37.

  “I wonder if I’ll ever get”: RR, January 26, 1982.

  “I’ve made a mil. speeches”: Ibid.

  “There has been some talk”: TPO, January 28, 1982.

  “Met with bi-partisan”: RR, February 8, 1982.

  “There is unrest among”: Ibid., February 11, 1982.

  “Tomorrow we begin”: CJM.

  “President hit hard”: Ibid.

  “I was the lone voice”: TPO, January 25, 1982.

  “He thought that Baker was”: Author conversation with Rosemary O’Neill.

  “I think we should not”: CJM.

  “I called Tip O’Neill”: RR, April 20, 1982.

  “I’m slipping badly”: Ibid., April 2, 1982.

  Reagan began making: Ibid., April 3, 1982.

  “Toby Moffett”: CJM.

  “After 45 years in”: Washington Post, April 22, 1982.

  “The D’s are playing games”: RR, April 26, 1982.

  “I’ve read that crap”: Reeves, President Reagan, p. 121.

  “You can get me to”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 588.

  “I wasn’t any more”: TPO, April 29, 1982.

  Within days after our: New York Times, April 29, 1982.

  For Mike Deaver: Author conversation with Carolyn Deaver.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN: PARTNERS

  “The future of this economy is now in the hands of Tip O’Neill”: Reeves, President Reagan, p. 122.

  “I don’t think he”: TPO, May 25, 1982.

  “We would go in and want”: Author interview with Max Friedersdorf.

  “It may be easier”: United Press International, May 4, 1982.

  “an aging prizefighter”: Wall Street Journal, June 18, 1982.

  “When I see him”: United Press International, June 27, 1982.

  “World’s Record Apple Pie”: New York Times, July 2, 1982.

  “It’s time for the doubters to eat humble pie”: Ibid.

  “As the Senator spoke”: Ibid.

  “people’s crusade”: Washington Post, July 20, 1982.

  “It’s like the saloon keeper”: Associated Press, July 20, 1982.

  “sneak attack”: New York Times, July 20, 1982.

  “Wake up, Mr. President!”: United Press International, August 4, 1982.

  “More than 200 members”: Associated Press, August 4, 1982.

  “Every time I ask”: TPO, August 13, 1982.

  “tax bill”: RR, June 22, July 19, August 2, and August 4, 1982.

  “I want him to use that smiling countenance”: TPO, July 29, 1982.

  “Senator Dole has shown”: Ibid., August 3, 1982.

  “The Republicans are not for”: Ibid., July 28, 1982.

  “Met with Jack Kemp”: RR, August 4, 1982.

  “There is a rumor”: Ibid., August 10, 1982.

  “Some of the people”: TPO, August 17, 1982.

  “The tax bill will not repeal”: Ibid., August 18, 1982.

  “Congress cannot with one vote”: Ibid., August 18, 1982.

  “Interesting photo opportunity”: RR, August 18, 1982.

  “Nancy wasn’t alone”: Ibid., August 19, 1982.

  “Did you hear that the Irish”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 589.

  “bipartisanship can be fun”: Washington Post, August 24, 1982.

  “It happened last Thursday”: Ibid.

  “You are here because of Reagan”: Ibid.

  “If he could put aside”: Ibid.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN: TIP AT THE TOP

  twelve seats: TPO, statement from November 2, and attached Democratic Policy Committee one-sheet from October 26, 1982.

  “political tactic”: Ibid., September 9, 1982.

  “The president would rather”: Ibid.

  “The politics of the veto”: Ibid., Letter from Democratic Leadership, September 8, 1982.

  “prize bull”: New York Times, September 10, 1982.

  “billion-dollar ballot box bailout bill”: Ibid., September 17, 1982.

  “Voters across America”: Reagan Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session With Reporters Following the House of Representatives Vote on the Proposed Constitutional Amendment for a Balanced Federal Budget, October 1, 1982.

  “stonewalling”: Ibid.

  “boosted the stock”: Washington Post, October 2, 1982.

  “Somebody told me”: Reagan Remarks, Rally for Texas Republican Candidates in Irving, Texas, October 11, 1982.

  “In Washington, the nine heavenly bodies”: United Press International, October 29, 1982.

  “Your heart would die for them”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 594.

  “tell them that Tip O’Neill”: Ibid.

  Franklin Roosevelt: Reagan Radio Address to the Nation on the Economy, October 16, 1982.

  “fear”: Reagan Radio Address to the Nation on Economic and Budget Issues, October 23, 1982.

  “Democrats took the offensive”: Washington Post, October 24, 1982.

  REAGAN AND O’NEILL EXCHANGE CHARGES: New York Times, October 24, 1982.

  “Not long ago”: Associated Press, October 29, 1982.

  GOP fund-raising letter: TPO Press Collection.

  “big, fat and out of control”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 595.

  pin a repeal o’neill campaign button: Washington Post, November 4, 1982.

  “I wouldn’t know him from a cord of wood”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 595.

  “For a while there”: Interview with Robert Mrazek, originally for Hardball book.

  “We don’t want anyone to eat crow”: TPO, November 3, 1982.

  “They are an odd couple”: New York Times, November 28, 1982.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN: DEAL

  “If we are truly”: U.S. News & World Report, December 27, 1982.

  “The old-age trust fund”: Washington Post, November 7, 1982.

  “Administration sources have suggested”: Ibid., January 3, 1983.

  Back in December: TPO, December 7, 1982.

  “Reagan’s Faithful Allies”: New York Times, January 3, 1983.

  “Are we going to let this commission die”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 601.

  “He didn’t make a move that”: Conversation with Jack Lew.

  “the same old political football”: New York Times, January 6, 1983.

  “I’m not going to make choices”: Ibid., January 16, 1983.

  “Reagan’s wariness of Social Security”: Ibid.

  “We weren’t going to put our head”: Jack Beatty, ed., Pols: Great Writers on American Politicians from Bryan to Reagan (New York: Public Affairs, 2004), p. 445.

  “It is my understanding”: Reagan statement on receiving the recommendations of the National Commission on Social Security Reform, January 15, 1983.

  “acceptable to the president”: TPO, January 15, 1983.

  “S.S. team came by”: RR, January 15, 1983.

  “It was very helpful to have”: New York Times, January 19, 2010.

  “More than any other event”: Robert Ball, “Restoring Financial Stability to Social Security,” www.ssa.gov/history/50rb.html.

  “all together”: RR, January 17, 1983.

  “we in government”: Reagan Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union, January 25, 1983.

  “And here all the time”: Ibid.

  “But you understand”: Reagan Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Se
ssion With Reporters on Domestic and Foreign Policy Issues, February 4, 1983.

  “Oh, you’ve sold out”: Ibid.

  “He spoke of creating jobs”: TPO, January 26, 1983.

  “I will probably kick myself”: Washington Post, January 27, 1983.

  “On the same day”: Newsweek, February 7, 1983.

  “Well, I said”: Ibid.

  “God damn it, Tip”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, pp. 599–600.

  “Tip & I”: RR, January 31, 1983.

  “the toughest going-over”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, pp. 599–600.

  “just two Irishmen plotting”: Time, February 21, 1983.

  “Whether this means a ray of hope”: TPO, January 31, 1983.

  “We stand ready”: Ibid., February 8, 1983.

  “I understand he’s getting married”: Ibid., February 10, 1983.

  “When I met with President Reagan”: Ibid.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: LEBANON AND GRENADA

  “What I am”: Reagan address to British Parliament, June 8, 1982.

  It had actually been: Arthur Vandenberg speech to the Senate, January 10, 1945.

  “Why are we there?”: Farrell, Tip O’Neill, p. 612.

  Two days later: Cannon, President Reagan, p. 356.

  “If he asks my views”: TPO, July 13, 1982.

  As Tip O’Neill put it: Ibid., September 12, 1983.

  “That country is coming apart”: Author witnessed Rep. Foley’s remark.

  “If it were for six months”: TPO, September 20, 1983.

  “I believe the president”: Washington Post, September 29, 1983.

  It was Democratic congressman: Ibid.

  “He was grateful”: TPO, September 29, 1983.

  “I was doing my duty”: Ibid.

  “The important thing”: New York Times, October 13, 1983.

  “I’ve OK’d an outright”: RR, October 21, 1983.

  On Sunday: Ibid., Saturday, October 22–Sunday, October 23.

  The FBI described: Cannon, President Reagan, p. 386.

  “He spoke of an agreement”: MOH, p. 363.

  “Phoned Tip & Howard”: RR, October 24, 1983.

  Author interview with Ken Duberstein.

  “I am bitterly disappointed”: TPO, October 25, 1983.

  “The resolution would be”: TPO, October 26, 1983.

  “The people of America”: Ibid.

  “I will have plenty”: Ibid.

  “The question I asked”: Ibid., October 28, 1983.

  “He broke international”: Ibid.

  “Nobody wants to cut”: Ibid.

  “Today I feel even more”: MOH, pp. 366–67.