William A. O’Neill, 77; governor, state House leader in Connecticut

William Atchison O’Neill, 77, a two-term Democratic governor of Connecticut who frustrated allies and opponents with a willingness to buck public opinion, died Saturday at his home in East Hampton, Conn., Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced. He had suffered from chronic emphysema.

O’Neill was lieutenant governor when Gov. Ella T. Grasso resigned in ill health Dec. 31, 1980. He was elected to full terms in 1982 and 1986 -- the last Democrat to hold Connecticut’s highest office.

Born Aug. 11, 1930, and raised in East Hampton, where his father owned a tavern that he would later run, O’Neill dropped out of college and served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He was elected to the state’s House of Representatives in 1966 and served six two-year terms, the last four years as majority leader.

O’Neill named the first female chief justice and the first black justice to the state’s Supreme Court. He also appointed Clarine Nardi Riddle as the state’s first female attorney general, replacing Joe Lieberman in 1988 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Before leaving office in 1990, O’Neill called for nearly $1 billion in new and increased taxes in a move that he acknowledged was unpopular but said was necessary.