Thomas Phillip O'Neill III (born September 20, 1944) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 65th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.

Early life and education

Born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, he is a son of Mildred Anne Miller and Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr., who served as

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

from 1977 to 1987. O'Neill received his bachelor's degree from Boston College and earned his

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

’s

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Career

Prior to becoming lieutenant governor, O’Neill served as a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

from 1973 to 1974. From 1975 to 1983, O'Neill served as Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During his term of office, O'Neill created and administered the Office of Federal-State Relations in Boston and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

During this time he also served on the U.S. State Department Ambassadorial Screening Committee. O'Neill is known for his work on behalf of the

Big Dig The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 90 to Logan I ...

, a project with which his father was instrumentally involved. O'Neill declined to seek a third term in 1982 in order to run for Governor of Massachusetts, but ran afoul of the state Democratic Party's rule changes and failed to make the ballot. O'Neill sits on the Board of Trustees for

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and chairs the Board of Trustees of Cristo Rey Boston High School, having graduated from both. He is on the board of Catholic Democrats, a national advocacy organization dealing with faith and politics. O'Neill has

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

and government affairs firm called O'Neill and Associates in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. In June 2020, the firm merged with Seven Letter, a communications firm based in

O'Neill will maintain control of the firm's lobbying practice.

References

External links

O'Neill and Associates
Massachusetts Democrats Living people Boston College alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Lieutenant governors of Massachusetts 1945 births 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Massachusetts-politician-stub