By T.S. Akers
Carl Albert, Speaker of the House
(Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives)
The Little Giant from Little Dixie
While living in the Bolen-Darnell mining camp, a
company town, Ernest Homer Albert and Leona Ann Scott gave birth to a son named
Carl, after his mother’s father Carlton, on May 10, 1908. Owing to the dangers
of coal mining, Carl’s mother directed his father to find a new line of work
and the family moved to Bug Tussle.[i] In 1922, the year Carl
entered McAlester High School, his parents took him to the courthouse to hear
Jack Walton deliver a campaign speech. Carl had developed an interest in public
speaking and committed himself to a nationwide oratorical competition. Speaking
on the U.S. Constitution, Carl won the district, state, and regional
competitions in 1927, and traveled to Washington, DC, for the national
competition. Though he did not win the national competition, Carl’s regional title
included a grand European tour.[ii]
Carl Albert at the White House in 1927. His high school classmates dubbed him "The Little Giant" owing to his accomplishments and small stature.
(Courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center)
Carl Albert entered the University of Oklahoma in the
fall of 1927. He continued to enter oratorical contests, some with cash prizes,
that helped with expenses. Carl was on a monthly budget of $30 and would wear
his ROTC uniform when his one suit was being cleaned. As a freshman, he won a
national intercollegiate oratorical competition.[iii] Carl’s oratory skills
caught the attention of Senator Thomas P. Gore in 1930. Gore asked Carl to give
introductory speeches at his campaign rallies and serve as his driver. [iv] Since beginning college,
Carl wanted to win a Rhodes scholarship. In 1931 he was one of thirty-three
chosen to receive that prestigious honor.[v]
Fraternal Bonds
Carl Albert returned from England in 1934 with two law
degrees. When the United States entered the Second World War, he obtained a
commission as a judge advocate general officer in the US Army Air Forces,
ultimately rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel while serving in the
Pacific.[vi] Like many returning from
the War, Carl sought the fraternal bonds of Freemasonry. He took the degrees of
Ancient Craft Masonry in South McAlester Lodge No. 96 in 1946. Two years later,
Carl received the degrees of the Scottish Rite at McAlester. According to his
Scottish Rite petition, Carl’s occupation was “a lawyer employed by the U.S.
Congress.”[vii]
Carl Albert wearing the white cap of the 33rd Degree in the Scottish Rite, 1971.
(From the collections of the McAlester Scottish Rite)
Carl Albert remained a lifelong Freemason, receiving
the designation of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour in 1957 and was
coroneted a Thirty-Third Degree in 1971. Both distinctions were bestowed upon
Carl in Washington, DC. In October of 1971, he received the degrees of the York
Rite at Tulsa in a special festival held in his honor.[viii]
Going East
According to Carl Albert, he was a “down-the-line,
Franklin Roosevelt, New Deal Democrat.” The effects of the Great Depression on Little
Dixie (southeastern Oklahoma) had shaped his beliefs, stating he “had seen too
many of Oklahoma’s neediest people to be anything else.”[ix] Having returned to
McAlester, Carl saw an opportunity in 1946 to fulfill his lifelong dream and
run for Congress. The crowded primary field concerned Carl, as two other
contenders could upset his dream. One was the incumbent Paul Stewart, a
newspaperman from Antlers, the other was Bill Steger, former Bryan County
Attorney and US Navy veteran. Steger was five years younger than Carl and if
elected would probably hold a seat in Congress for some time. In a hard-fought
primary, Carl came in 2,700 votes behind Steger, but he was advancing to a runoff.
There, Carl secured victory over Steger by just 330 votes. Carl’s Republican
opponent in the general election was his longtime friend John Fuller, who gave
Carl a $100 campaign contribution and withdrew from the race. Carl Albert was
soon headed to Washington, DC as the freshman Congressman from Oklahoma’s Third
District.[x]
In Congress, Carl Albert caught the attention of
Speaker Sam Rayburn. In time, Rayburn would become Carl’s mentor. When the post
of House Majority Whip opened in 1955, Carl was appointed to the position. He
then ascended to House Majority Leader when Rayburn died in office in 1961. After
Speaker John McCormack retired in 1971, Carl Albert was selected as the 46th
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.[xi]
Carl Albert with Queen Elizabeth II and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller at a luncheon in 1976.
(Courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center)
A True Statesman
Lyndon B. Johnson became President of the United
States upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Johnson’s legislative
agenda included advancing a set of domestic programs that came to be known as
the “Great Society.” The programs were designed to expand civil rights, funding
for the arts, urban and rural development, as well as Johnson’s “War on
Poverty.” The “Great Society” of course had to make its way through Congress
and needed an appropriate steward to do so. With Kennedy gone, Carl Albert
remarked that the whole country needed Lyndon Johnson.[xii] However, Johnson
certainly needed Carl. When the civil rights bill was held up in the Rules
Committee, it took an exceptional leadership team to advance it to the House
floor where it passed by 290 to 130 votes. Carl delivered again with the
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 to combat poverty, which passed the House by 226
to 185 votes.[xiii]
When the Nation was entering one of its darkest hours,
Carl Albert again rose to the occasion, this time as Speaker of the House. In 1973
Vice President Spiro Agnew came under investigation for fraud and bribery,
ultimately resigning in early October. President Richard Nixon nominated Gerald
Ford to replace Agnew, but Nixon had his own troubles with the Watergate Scandal.
On the twenty-second of October, Carl referred twenty-five impeachment resolutions
for Nixon to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Some in Congress saw an
opportunity to forestall Ford’s confirmation as vice president, remove Nixon from
office, and have Carl Albert assume the presidency. For Carl, such a path to
the White House was never an option. Ford was confirmed as vice president in
November and then the Judiciary Committee set to work on the impeachment
inquiry. Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974, before the impeachment
proceedings concluded.[xiv]
There is one thing I know
about the House of Representatives, and I can say this with complete confidence
- that when the national interest is really at stake, when we have got
something that must be done, that House always rises to the occasion...
Carl
Albert [xv]
Carl Albert passed away on February 4, 2000, at the
age of 92. He was laid to rest at Oak Hill Memorial Park in McAlester.[xvi] Today, the memory of
Carl Albert lives on across Oklahoma with the Carl Albert Parkway in McAlester,
Carl Albert State College in Poteau, and the Carl Albert Congressional Research
and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
Statue of Carl Albert at the University of Oklahoma by Paul Moore.
[i]
Carl Albert with Danney Goble, Little Giant: The Life and Times of
Speaker Carl Albert (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990), 11-14.
[ii]
Albert with Goble, Little Giant, 59-69.
[vi]
Erin M. Sloan, “Albert, Carl Bert,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma
History and Culture, accessed August 21, 2019, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=AL003.
[vii]
“Albert, Carl” (member profile, McAlester Valley of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite).
[viii]
“Albert, Carl” (member profile).
[ix]
Albert with Goble, Little Giant, 119.
[xi]
Erin M. Sloan, “Albert, Carl Bert.”
[xii]
Albert with Goble, Little Giant, 281.
[xv]
“Albert, Carl” (member profile).
[xvi]
Carl Bert Albert, Find A Grave, accessed August 21, 2019, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6457039/carl-bert-albert.
