Albert L. O'Neil

Albert L. "Dapper" O'Neil (April 12, 1920 – December 19, 2007) was an American politician who served as a socially conservative member of the Boston City Council for 28 years.^[1] He served on the Boston Licensing Board and was an operative for Boston Mayor James Michael Curley.^[1]

He graduated from Roxbury Memorial High School and attended Suffolk University Law School, but left before graduating to serve in the United States Army during World War II.^[1]

O'Neil worked as a chauffeur for Massachusetts Gubernatorial candidate Endicott Peabody. After Peabody was elected Governor of Massachusetts, he appointed O'Neil as his patronage secretary. O'Neil's tenure in that role was short-lived. According to some reports, O'Neil was contacted by an aide to Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy and asked to provide a Kennedy supporter with a state job. O'Neil, not a fan of Kennedy's liberal policies allegedly told the staffer to "go to hell." Kennedy's office demanded ONeil's termination which was granted almost immediately by Peabody. As a face-saving measure for the ever loyal O'Neil, Peabody appointed him head of Boston's Licensing Board.[1] He was first elected to office in 1971.[2]

In a story published in The Boston Globe on November 11, 1999, when he lost his City Council election bid to Michael F. Flaherty, Boston historian Thomas H. O'Connor said, "This is the last hurrah not merely for a man but for the politicking he represents." O'Connor went on to say that O'Neil's career endured "largely through the kinds of loyalties he built up over 30 years, from people for whom he'd done favors, and they'd never forget him, and they'd talk about him to their relatives. He built a political career on a system of local patronage."

O'Neil had a long history in supporting the right to keep and bear arms; he was famous for carrying a loaded firearm with him at all times. He openly called supporters of integration "suburban liberals" and suggested that they were "Communist dupes." He was fond of quoting the alleged saying of Nikita Khrushchev "We will bury you from within;" reflecting his belief that integration and desegregaton were a "Communist plot against Boston. O'Neil was also a outspoken supporter of the white minority governments of South Africa and Rhodesia. At least in part because of his explicit rejection of raced-based grievance and identity politics, he was much admired and praised by Boston columnist and radio talk show host Howie Carr.

Seat

Proceeded by: Louise Day Hicks
Succeeded by: Michael F. Flaherty

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Long, Tom; Donovan Slack and John R. Ellement (2007-12-19). ""Dapper" O'Neil is dead at 87". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2007/12/dapper_oneil_is.html. 

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Name	Oneil, Albert L.
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Date of birth	April 12, 1920
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Date of death	December 19, 2007
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