(1912 – 1994) Massachusetts member of Congress and Speaker of the House. Elected to Congress in 1952, O’Neill made famous the phrase, “All politics is local,” a credo which contends that local, rather than national, concerns drive politics. He became one of the first House leaders to oppose US involvement in the Vietnam War. Speaker of the House from 1977 until his retirement in 1986, O’Neill was the longest continually serving Speaker since Congress first met in 1789. In 1979, during O’Neill’s tenure as Speaker, the House began live telecasts of its floor debates.