Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

Yeah, I’ve been bad about posting. I’ll give refunds to those that ask.

I can’t let the birthday of one of this blog’s favorite old time Arizona politicians pass. Buckey O’Neill was born on February 2 in 1860. He might have been born in Missouri, Washington, DC or Ireland. The facts of his birth varied by audience needs and alcohol consumption.

He was a gambler, newspaper man, lobbyist, lawman, entrepreneur, Mayor of Prescott and two-time candidate for congress in the short lived (and radically anti-corporate) People’s Party.

Despite his reputation as a lawman, he was shy when it came to public speaking. He was also blunt. Mo Udall quoted one of O’Neill’s campaign speeches (likely from one of his two failed runs for congressional delegate) in his book Too Funny to Be President:

I announce for this office entirely on my own responsibility. There has been no “anxious public” urging me to do so; there has been no solicitation of friends; nor have the wishes of “many prominent citizens” made the slightest effort to bluff me into doing it.

To be frank, it is not a case where the office is wearing itself out hunting the man. Here it is the man wearing himself out for the office, and for the simple reason that it is a soft berth with a salary of two thousand dollars per annum attached.

As for my “special qualifications,” the truth is, I don’t have any. Although I have no particular advantage over 75 percent of my fellow citizens in the country, I do believe that I am fully competent to discharge all the duties incident to the office – if I am elected.

If you coincide in this opinion, support me if you see fit. If you do not, you will by no means jeopardize the safety of the universe by defeating me.