John O'Neill (Vietnam Veteran)
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John Ellis O'Neill is a
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
veteran and
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
who was the spokesman for
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), was a political group ( 527 group) of United States Swift boat veterans; former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 president ...
.


Background

O'Neill is from
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
. His grandfather was Superintendent of the Chemistry Department at the Naval Experiment Station across the Severn River from the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...
and his father was a
rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
. He said he followed his two brothers into the Naval Academy, graduating in 1967. O'Neill married Anne Bradley (1947–2006) in 1976, and the couple had two children. His book '' Unfit for Command'' is dedicated to her.


Vietnam

O'Neill served in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. He commanded PCF-94, a swift boat that had previously been commanded by
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
, and returned from his tour of duty in June 1970. He was awarded two Bronze Stars during his service.


Recruitment by Nixon White House

In 1971, Kerry, representing
Vietnam Veterans Against the War Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) is an American non-profit organization and corporation founded in 1967 to oppose the United States policy and participation in the Vietnam War. VVAW is a national veterans' organization that campaigns for ...
, testified to the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for authorizing and overseeing foreign a ...
that American soldiers were committing war crimes in Vietnam. Resentful of the allegations, O'Neill began giving television interviews opposing Kerry, supporting President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
's Vietnam policies, and representing the newly-formed Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace. According to a White House memo, O'Neill was disappointed with the negative reactions to his speaking appointments and was considering ending his advocacy by June 1971. The Nixon White House responded to Kerry's critical testimony by searching for and recruiting veterans who could counter Kerry's narrative. Impressed with one of O'Neill's appearances, Nixon's special counsel
Charles Colson Charles Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012), generally referred to as Chuck Colson, was an American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970. Once known as ...
arranged for O'Neill and Nixon to meet on June 16. They spent almost an hour in the
Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...
, strategizing about how to stop Kerry. After the meeting, Colson and O'Neill began challenging Kerry to debate O'Neill on live television. Kerry agreed to a June 30 debate on the Dick Cavett Show on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
. O'Neill strongly defended American incursions in
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
and
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
, and opposed anti-war veterans. He was particularly critical of claims regarding the commission of
war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
by US military personnel in Vietnam.


Legal career

After 1971, O'Neill moved out of the media spotlight. He studied law at the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
, graduating first in his class in 1973 and being admitted to the bar in 1974. Appointed to the President's National Advisory Counsel on Supplemental Services and Centers, he served from 1973 to 1974. He was a law clerk to
Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...
William H. Rehnquist from 1974 to 1975. O'Neill subsequently returned to Texas to practice law, specializing in commercial litigation. He later co-founded the law firm Clements, O'Neill, Pierce, Wilson, and Fulkerson in Houston. His partners at that firm included, among others,
Margaret Wilson Margaret Anne Wilson (born 20 May 1947) is a New Zealand lawyer, academic and former Labour Party politician. She served as Attorney-General from 1999 to 2005 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, during the Fifth ...
, who once served as general counsel for
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
during his time as governor of Texas, and the late Tex Lazar, who once ran for lieutenant governor on the same ticket with Bush and who died in 2003. The firm was recently subsumed into the larger
Howrey LLP Howrey LLP was a global law firm that practiced antitrust, global litigation and intellectual property law. In March 2011, Howrey dissolved and subsequently entered bankruptcy. At its peak Howrey had more than 700 attorneys in 18 locations world ...
. According to his most recent firm resume, in addition to practicing oil and gas litigation, O'Neill obtained one of the largest securities arbitration judgments in history representing a small-time investor who had been defrauded by a large securities company, and also successfully represented a class of immigrants in a suit against Fiesta Savings & Loan, allowing them to recover their money when the savings and loan went under. ''Texas Lawyer'' magazine reported on February 19 and 26, 1990, that O'Neill, who was representing the plaintiffs in a securities fraud class action underlying a malpractice suit, and two other lawyers, were threatened with sanctions for allegedly violating the Texas Code of Professional Responsibility by the judge in the case,
United States District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...
David Hittner, who declined to pursue the matter after the trial was completed. In 1991, O'Neill was considered by President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
for nomination as a federal judge in Texas, but was passed over.


Swift Boat Veterans

O'Neill stated that he turned down several requests over the years, including some from Kerry's electoral opponents, to resume his attacks upon Kerry. However, he returned to the fore in 2004 as a cofounder of a new organization,
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), was a political group ( 527 group) of United States Swift boat veterans; former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 president ...
, later known as Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, and he is listed as the co-author, with conservative Jerome Corsi, of the book ''Unfit For Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry''. Due to the baseless and false accusations included in the book and many of his public speaking events, the term "swiftboating" entered the public lexicon as an American
neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
used to describe an unfair or untrue political attack. O'Neill stated that his main reason for resuming the activities was that Kerry was running for the office of
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
, the Commander in Chief of the US armed forces. After Kerry lost the election, O'Neill stated that he planned to return to private life. However, he continues to make some public appearances and give public interviews.


Political contributions and activities

O'Neill has stated that he considers himself a "political independent." He has stated that he voted for
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
in 2000, and
Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot ( ; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an Independent politician ...
in 1996 and also in 1992, but records indicate he donated to the 1992 Bush-Quayle primary campaign. He has stated that he admired Democrat
John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under ...
during the 2004 Democratic primary but did not claim to have voted for him in that primary. However, with the exception of the 2000 election, he has not claimed to have voted for any Democratic presidential candidate since Hubert Humphrey in 1968. While he told Nixon in 1971 that he had not voted for him in the 1968 election, he seconded Nixon's nomination at the 1972 Republican National Convention. Available records indicate he voted in the Republican state primary in 1998 and has regularly contributed to the Texas Republican Party and to Republican candidates for federal office. None of the available records indicates donations to the state Democratic Party or to any Democratic candidate for federal office. However, O'Neill has claimed to have made large contributions to local Democratic candidates and supported Bill White and Ron Green for the nonpartisan positions of mayor and city councilmember, respectively, of the City of Houston. In this connection, O'Neill's name appears on an endorsement for Bill White. O'Neill is a director of the conservative
David Horowitz Freedom Center The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was ...
(formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture), co-founded by
David Horowitz David Joel Horowitz (January 10, 1939 – April 29, 2025) was an American conservative writer and activist. He was a founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website '' FrontPage Magazine''; and ...
. O'Neill sent a letter supporting Greg Parke, an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for a Senate seat in Vermont in 2006. He has also endorsed the presidential campaign of Duncan Hunter.


See also

* John Kerry military service controversy *
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 9) Law clerks have assisted the justices of the United States Supreme Court in various capacities since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in 1882. Each justice is permitted to have between three and four law clerks per Court term. Mos ...


Notes


References

*


External links


Profile
at
SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by prog ...

John O'Neill's campaign contribution report
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, John 1946 births Living people Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Activists from San Antonio United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War United States Navy officers Texas Republicans Military personnel from San Antonio Lawyers from San Antonio