THE CONGRESS: After the Walkover, a Squeaker

The principal item on the agenda of the House Democratic Caucus was strictly ho-hum—though it involved selection of the man who will fill the second most powerful political office in the United States: the Speaker of the House. This process has sometimes produced gory battles. But last week, with the 292 Democrats who will sit in the next Congress eligible to vote (along with delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands and the resident commissioner of Puerto Rico), there was literally no contest. Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill Jr. of Massachusetts, after four brilliantly successful years...

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