Im working on a project trying find historical examples of when the Speaker of the House and President of the United States were members of opposing parties, but still found common ground between party lines and worked together for compromise. Can anyone give me an example or quotes from either side expressing the importance of working together?
Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan worked together on entitlement reform, which had long been considered one of Reagan's key goals (maybe not as central to what he saw as his ideological mandate as the ACA was for Obama) and never would have been possible without O'Neill's support. And this was two guys who, while not personally enemies, disagreed about pretty much everything in the political sphere and generally had very little good to say about each other's party.