Government minister 1959–1973

As Minister for Education, Hillery was responsible for much innovative thinking in a department which would become very important under Lemass's leadership. In 1963, he made a major policy speech in which he outlined many of the educational reforms that were to be introduced over the next decade. These included increased educational opportunities for many, the establishment of comprehensive schools and Regional Technical Colleges. He also proposed access by students to all public examinations.^[6] As Minister for Education, Hillery laid the groundwork for successive Ministers to advance the reforms and initiatives he had begun. While Donogh O'Malley, has received much of the credit for introducing free education, it was in fact Hillery who laid much of the groundwork before this landmark announcement.

In 1965, Hillery succeeded Lynch again by taking over as Minister for Industry and Commerce. This department was considered one of the most important in kick-starting Ireland's economy. Hillery only remained in this position for just over a year, becoming the country's first Minister for Labour in 1966, as industrial disputes began to take their toll. This new department had been an ambition of Lemass's for several years.

Lemass resigned as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil in November 1966, a shock to many of his political friends. Hillery was invited by Lemass to allow his name to go forward for the leadership of the party, however, he declined explaining that he had no interest. Jack Lynch succeeded Lemass after a leadership contest with George Colley. Hillery retained his post as Minister for Labour in Lynch's cabinet, serving until 1969.

Following a further victory for Fianna Fáil at the 1969 general election, Hillery was appointed Minister for External Affairs (renamed Foreign Affairs in 1971), one of the most prestigious of cabinet posts. He earned an international profile when, in the aftermath of the killing of fourteen unarmed civilians in Derry, by British paratroopers (known as Bloody Sunday), he travelled to the United Nations to demand UN involvement in peace-keeping on the streets of Northern Ireland. The trip to the UN achieved very little, other than to draw the attention of the world to the worsening situation in Northern Ireland. During the whole period Hillery remained one of Jack Lynch's staunchest allies in pursuing peaceful means with regard to the possibility of a civil war breaking out. Although considered a mild-mannered politician, Hillery showed his mettle at the 1971 Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis when Kevin Boland, an opponent of Lynch's Northern policy, stormed a nearby podium and launched a very public and vocal attack on the Fianna Fáil leadership. While some of his supporters started chanting "We want Boland", Hillery, who by this stage had grabbed the nearest microphone, shouted down the Boland faction with the line "Ye can have Boland but ye can't have Fianna Fáil."

As well as affairs in Northern Ireland, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hillery also negotiated Irish membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), a process that was completed in 1973.

The fake "sex scandal" during the papal visit

Though once voted the world's sexiest head of state by readers of the German Der Spiegel magazine,^[8] few expected Hillery to become embroiled in a sex scandal as president.^[9] Yet, one occurred in September 1979, when the international press corps, travelling to Ireland for the visit of Pope John Paul II, told their Irish colleagues that Europe was "awash" with rumours that Hillery had a mistress living with him in Áras an Uachtaráin (the presidential residence), that he and his wife were divorcing and he was considering resigning from the presidency.^[10][11] However, the story was untrue. Once the Pope had left, Hillery held a press conference where he told a shocked nation that there was no mistress, no divorce and no resignation.^[11][3] In reality, few people had even heard of the rumours. Critics questioned why he chose to comment on a rumour that few outside media and political circles had heard. Hillery, however, defended his action by saying that it was important to kill off the story for the good of the presidency, rather than allow the rumour to circulate and be accepted as fact in the absence of a denial. In that, he was supported by the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, whom he consulted before making the decision, he also got the support of Leader of the Opposition, Garret FitzGerald, of Fine Gael and Frank Cluskey, of the Labour Party. In 2008, Historian John Walsh claimed that within Irish political circles, the source of the rumours about Hillery were widely believed to have been planted by the leader of Fianna Fáil Charles Haughey, who was attempting to force Hillery to resign from office.^[11]

Hillery also hit the headlines when, on the advice of then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, he declined Queen Elizabeth II's invitation to attend the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.

Phone calls to Áras an Uachtaráin

However, it was in 1982, that Hillery's reputation as President was arguably made. In January 1982, the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition government of Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald lost a budget vote in Dáil Éireann. Since this was a loss of supply, FitzGerald travelled to Áras an Uachtaráin, to ask for a dissolution of the Dáil. Under Article 13.2.2°,^{[lower-alpha 1]} If Hillery refused FitzGerald's request for a dissolution, FitzGerald would have had to resign. Had this happened, Haughey, Leader of the Opposition, would have been the next contender to form a new government. To this a series of phone calls (some published reports claim seven, others eight) was made by senior opposition figures urging Hillery to refuse FitzGerald a dissolution, so allowing Haughey to form a government.

Hillery regarded such pressure as gross misconduct, and ordered one of his aides de camp, Captain Anthony Barber, not to pass on any telephone calls from opposition figures. He might also have been motivated by a conflict between the English and Irish versions of the Constitution. While the English version vests the President with certain powers that he uses "in his absolute discretion," the Irish version states that these powers are used as a chomhairle féin, which usually translates to "under his own counsel". While "absolute discretion" implies that presidents have some latitude in whether to initiate contact with the opposition under these circumstances, "under his own counsel" has been understood to mean that no contact whatsoever can take place with the opposition. Whenever there is a conflict between the Irish and English versions, the Irish one takes precedence. In the end, Hillery granted the dissolution. (No Irish president to date has ever refused such a request.)

By 1990, Hillery's term seemed to be reaching a quiet end, until the events of 1982 returned, changing the course of the history of the presidency, Ireland and Hillery forever. Three candidates had been nominated in the 1990 presidential election: the then Tánaiste, Brian Lenihan from Fianna Fáil (widely viewed as the certain winner), Austin Currie from Fine Gael and Mary Robinson from the Labour Party. In May 1990, in an on the record interview with Jim Duffy, a post-graduate student researching the Irish presidency, Lenihan had confirmed that he had been one of those phoning President Hillery in January 1982. He confirmed that Haughey too had made phone calls. Jim Duffy mentioned the information in a newspaper article on the history of the Irish presidency on 28 September 1990 in The Irish Times. In October 1990, Lenihan changed his story, claiming (even though he had said the opposite for eight years) that he had played "no hand, act or part" in pressurising President Hillery that night. He made these denials in an interview in The Irish Press (a Fianna Fáil–leaning newspaper) and on Questions and Answers, an RTÉ 1 political show,.

When it was realised that he had said the opposite in an on-the-record interview in May 1990, his campaign panicked and tried to pressurise Duffy into not revealing the information. Their pressure backfired, particularly when his campaign manager, Bertie Ahern, named Duffy as the person to whom he had given the interview in a radio broadcast, prompting Duffy to release the relevant segment of his interview with Lenihan. In the aftermath, the minority party in the coalition government, the Progressive Democrats, indicated that unless Lenihan resigned from cabinet, they would resign from government and support an opposition motion of no confidence in Dáil Éireann, bringing down the government and causing a general election. Publicly, Haughey insisted that it was entirely a matter for Lenihan, his "friend of thirty years" and that he was putting no pressure on him. In reality, under pressure from the PDs, Haughey gave Lenihan a letter of resignation to sign. When Lenihan refused, Haughey formally advised President Hillery to sack Lenihan from cabinet. As required by Article 13.1.3 of the Constitution,^[12] Hillery did so. Lenihan's campaign never recovered, and he became the first candidate from his party to lose a presidential election, having begun the campaign as the favourite. Instead Labour's Mary Robinson became the first elected President of Ireland from outside Fianna Fáil, and the first woman to hold the office.

The revelations, and the discovery that Hillery had stood up to pressure in 1982 from former cabinet colleagues, including his close friend Brian Lenihan, substantially increased Hillery's standing. From a low-key, modest presidency that had been seen as mediocre, his presidency came to be seen as embodying the highest standards of integrity. His reputation rose further when opposition leaders under parliamentary privilege alleged that Haughey, who in January 1982, had been Leader of the Opposition, had not merely rung the President's Office but threatened to end the career of the army officer who took the call and who, on Hillery's explicit instructions, had refused to put through the call to the president. Haughey angrily denied the charge, though Lenihan, in his subsequently published account of the affair, noted that Haughey had denied "insulting" the officer, whereas the allegation was that he had "threatened" him. Hillery, it was revealed, had called in the Irish Army's Chief of Staff the following day and as Commander-in-Chief of the Army had ordered the Chief of Staff to ensure that no politician ever interfered with the career of the young army officer. About ten years after the incident, RTÉ attempted to interview the young officer with regard to the allegations but as a serving officer he was unable to comment.

Having been re-elected unopposed in 1983, Hillery (until then) shared the distinction with Seán T. O'Kelly and Éamon de Valera of serving two full terms as President of Ireland. He was one of three holders of the office of President who did not face popular election for the office, the others being Douglas Hyde and Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh. Hillery left office in 1990, serving the maximum two terms, widely applauded for his integrity, honesty and devotion to duty. The previous image of Hillery, as low key, dull and unexciting (except for the bizarre sex rumours), had been somewhat undermined. President Hillery retired from public life.

He re-entered public life in 2002, during the second referendum on the Nice Treaty, when he urged a yes vote.