Ronald Reagan, Tip’Neill forged friendship amid rivalry

(NewsNation) — Former President Ronald Reagan became known among historians and political experts as a leader who remained true to his Republican agenda and as someone who was not afraid to compromise to reach common ground.

Perhaps no relationship he established during his eight years in the White House exemplified this more than his respectful friendship with the former speaker of the U.S. House, Thomas “Tip” O’Neill Jr.

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Both full-blooded Irish-Americans, Reagan and O’Neill, the Massachusetts Democrat, were known for their single-minded desire to get what they wanted. But in each case, both Reagan and O’Neill understood that to achieve what their respective political parties hoped for, they needed help from the other side.

“We agreed that since we would have to do business with each other, we should try to do our best to get along,” Reagan wrote of O’Neill in his autobiography.

The two men famously argued over political policy, with O’Neill regularly criticizing Reagan’s plan to fix the American economy and the cuts he wanted to make in federal spending.

In his autobiography, Reagan wrote that just one day after the two men had exhausted their guests at a dinner of Irish stories passed down from their parents, he read O’Neill’s comments to the president about proposed budget cuts.

According to Reagan, he called O’Neill and said he was hurt by comments that he considered a personal attack. O’Neill responded, “After 6 p.m. we can be friends,” Reagan wrote. “Before that, it’s politics.”

In 2012 New York Times op-edO’Neill’s son, Thomas P. O’Neill, wrote that his father and Reagan were two men who would not back down from a fight and that their worldviews were polar opposites.

But the younger O’Neill wrote: “I know that each of them believed deeply in what they fought for – and that each had deep concerns about where the other’s political views might take this country.”

After John Hinkley Jr. shot Reagan an assassination attempt in 1981, O’Neill was the first non-family member to gain access to Reagan’s hospital room, according to the Reagan Library. Upon entering the room, O’Neill knelt by the president’s bed and together the two men recited the 23^third Psalm from the Bible.

Before leaving, he kissed Reagan on the forehead.

The attempt on Reagan’s life drew a wave of compassion from both sides of the political aisle, historian Talmage Boston he told NewsNation, which helped break down political divisions.

Despite this and the friendship that developed between him and Reagan, O’Neill resisted Reagan’s policies, many of which, O’Neill’s son wrote in the New York Times, were designed to trample the disenfranchised.

Chris MatthewMSNBC television host and former aide to O’Neill, wrote that Reagan liked O’Neill because “he always wanted to help little people — (Reagan) just disagreed about how to do that.”

However, Reagan reacted with the same vehemence, claiming that federal spending was out of control and that a social system promoted by Democrats created a feeling of dependence.

Despite political differences, however, the friendship between Reagan and O’Neill came to the fore. Reagan spoke at a retirement party for O’Neill in 1986.

During the speech, Reagan joked about the sometimes adversarial nature of their relationship, but said their back and forth was instead a sign of affection between the two political rivals.

“These are the things friends do to each other,” Reagan said in the speech. “And, Mr. President, I am grateful that you have allowed me in the past – and I hope in the future – this singular honor, the honor of calling you my friend. I think the fact of our friendship is a testament to the political system we are part of and the country we live in.”