I am so old I remember when the Naugahydes went extinct. How old are you?

[MosheFeingold]

84. Sure

Tip and Jimmy Carter hated each other (even though they agreed), while Ronald Reagan and Tip were close friends and very much respected each other, even when they disagreed (which was all day long). Hence, they would hammer out some decent things together.

President Carter was very much a "ninny" and forbid drinking at the White House, which pissed everyone off. I really think that is why he had such a difficult time because he and his Georgia clan not only didn't get along with the Republicans, but they didn't get along with other Democrats.

In fairness, Carter didn't know anyone, so he relied on his network of Georgia connections because he was a bit paranoid. And then the other Democrats treated them like rubes because they had Southern accents. And so each side closed ranks and the problem became worse.

You'll never read that anywhere else, but I swear it is true.

Probably the maddest I ever saw Tip O'Neil was during the Shah of Iran situation. Yes, the Shah of Iran was a very bad guy -- typical middle east strong man, arguable former ally of Nazis. But he was better than the radical Shia. Carter wanted to hear none of that and really put pressure on the Shah to permit elections. Tip said Iran wasn't ready. Carter disagreed. With benefit of 40 years of hindsight, Tip was probably correct.

I think some of Tip's insight is because he (a Roman Catholic, I think) was very tied into the Jewish circles in MA and grew up in a mixed Jewish/Catholic neighborhood. He had a lot of childhood friends he could call who had family all over Iran (which had a large Jewish population at the time) and the ME in general. Kind of an informal information gathering system.