Carl Albert (D-OK), speaker of the House 1971-1977

[bobbieinok]

http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/exhibit/albert.htm

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Albert's career in the House of Representatives, 1947-1976, was distinguished. He served on several standing committees-- Agriculture (1949-1962), Post Office and Civil Service (1947-1948), House Administration (1949-1952), Science and Astronautics (1963- 1967), and Education and Labor (1968)--as well as the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress (1949-1952) and the Select Committee to Investigate Lobbying Activities (1949-1951). In 1955 the lawmaker was chosen majority whip and began his ascent of the House leadership ladder. Serving with Sam Rayburn and John McCormack, Albert succeeded the latter as Majority Leader in 1962 and as Speaker in 1971.



In each of his leadership positions, Carl Albert made his mark. As whip he increased the number of whip zones and shifted emphasis from counting votes to influencing members. As majority leader he helped persuade Speaker John McCormack to revive the Democratic Caucus (1969). Among other congressional reforms, he worked for a system of recording votes of members of the House. He also played a major role in directing President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society legislation through the House. In conjunction with being a congressional leader, he was a Democratic party leader, and in 1968 he chaired the tumultuous Democratic Convention in Chicago.

Carl Albert was the 46th Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1976, a period when the issues troubling the country--Vietnam, busing, the economy, the energy crisis, and Watergate--were played out in the chambers of Congress and the Oval Office of the White House. The Vietnam War was one of the most divisive and saw Albert, who favored peace on terms acceptable to the United States, pitted against members of his own party, such as Bella Abzug, who favored immediate withdrawal. But another issue saw the Speaker butting heads with President Richard Nixon. In 1973 Nixon impounded congressional appropriated funds for domestic social programs, a move Albert saw as damaging to society's well-being and an attack upon the constitutional separation of powers.



Even more crucial in 1973 and 1974 was Watergate. Albert found himself making unique and difficult decisions. After Vice President Spiro Agnew's resignation, he was second only to the president. Simultaneously, he presided over the only body with power to impeach. A crescendo of voices, many from Democratic members of Congress, demanded Nixon's immediate removal. Albert could have made himself president. He didn't. The Speaker preferred to proceed cautiously and judiciously.


During the 1970s he oversaw further changes in the conduct of the House. Under Albert the Speaker became the chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and gained the right to nominate all Democratic members of the Rules Committee. And with the War Powers Resolution the leader of the House had a greater role in foreign policy. One of his last acts as Speaker was to host Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain during the American Bicentennial.

Albert last won election in 1974 and retired at the end of the congressional session in 1976 (his term officially ended on January 3, 1977). He had served in Congress longer and held more power than any other Oklahoman. After retirement he returned to McAlester, Oklahoma. He passed away on February 4, 2000.