In Washington, O'Neill became extremely popular with his colleagues on both sides of the House chamber.

O'Neill was the consummate deal maker, brokering compromises on tough issues within his own party. And O'Neill was not afraid to express his opinions, even when they split the district.

In 1967, Kenney says, O'Neill became the first Democrat to oppose the Vietnam War.

The academics and the more affluent members of the district were also opposed to the war at the time. The Globe, Kenney recalls, published weekly lists of soldiers who died or were missing in action.

But the majority of the district--blue collar families, whose wage-earners worked in service and industrial sectors--were strongly in favor of the war.

Rita Corkery remembers O'Neill being vocally criticized by residents of the district--which she says was surprising for the usually unified eighth.

"It was sort of a feeling of people saying, `it's against your country,'" Corkery said. "He did show leadership in going against that."

O'Neill was elected Speaker of the House in 1977 and quickly became one of the most enigmatic figures in American politics.

Thomas J. Vallely, a Massachusetts state legislator who sought O'Neill's seat in 1986, attributes the former speaker's political dominance simply to his character and stature as an American statesman.

Vallely, now an administrator at the Harvard Institute for International Development, said O'Neill became the spokesperson for the post-World War II Democratic majority in Congress.

Then came Ronald W. Reagan. The eighth district gave Reagan 36 percent of its vote, the lowest of any district in the nation.

"And, [then O'Neill] governed over the adjustment of the [Great Society]," Vallely says.

Throughout the Reagan years, O'Neill kept a close liberal eye on the conservative reforms backed by his fellow Irishman.

In his district, O'Neill was so popular he often galloped through election years without so much as a primary challenger.

"People respected him as a person and a political figure," Vallely said.