September 4, 2026 • 10 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Carl Albert stood just 5 feet 4 inches tall, but during one of America’s biggest political scandals, he carried more than his share of the weight. As the Watergate scandal unraveled the Nixon presidency, the Speaker of the House, known as the "Little Giant from Little Dixie," became an anchor of stability. He put country over party and helped steer Congress through one of the most chaotic chapters in modern political history.
Jeff Bloodworth, professor of American history at Gannon University and a Jack Miller Center Fellow, shares the story.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with Our American Stories. And our next
story comes to us from Jeff Bloodworth, who is a
professor of American history at Gannon University and is a
Jack Miller Center fellow. And the Jack Miller Center plays
a fundamental part of our history storytelling. You're on Our
American Stories and is a valued partner. Let's take a
(00:32):
listen to Jeff Bloodworth.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Carl Albert did not want to be president. The 5'4''
Speaker of the House had not risen from abject poverty
to the nation's second highest office by lacking ambition. But
in 1973, when the Speaker realized the Watergate crisis could
elevate him into the White House, he foreswore personal ambition
(00:57):
for the nation's greater good. We now know that Watergate
was America's greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War. But
in the first months of the scandal, Albert tread carefully.
The Senate Watergate Committee began its work in early 1973,
but Albert firmly resisted calls for the House to begin
impeachment proceedings before it was time. By late 1973, the
(01:22):
crisis had reached a crescendo when the Vice President, Spiro Agnew,
resigned over charges of bribery and tax evasion. This put
Albert into a political bind. With Agnew out, he, as
the Speaker, was next in line to the Presidency. And
revelations of the Watergate tapes and the Saturday Night Massacre
made Nixon's impeachment a real possibility. President Carl Albert was
(01:46):
not just a pipe dream. It was within his grasp.
The 25th Amendment gave Congress the power to vote on
Agnew's replacement. As Speaker, Albert could have killed the vote
without a vice president. Democrats who controlled the House and
Senate could impeach and remove Nixon from office, which would
(02:07):
make the Speaker of the House, Carl Albert, president. Eager
for the White House, many Democrats begged Albert to do
the easy thing. Do nothing and become president. A President
Albert with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate could
pursue a Carl Albert agenda, restart the Great Society, pass
(02:30):
national health care, address rural America's gaping needs, and achieve
a more honorable peace in Vietnam. But Albert would have
none of it. Born in tiny, bug-tussled Oklahoma to hardscrabble
tenant farmers, Carl Burt Albert came up the hard way.
His father had quit the dangers of coal mining for
(02:53):
the destitution that came with tenant farming. And bug-tussle, like
so many rural communities in southeastern Oklahoma... featured a grinding
poverty that most never escaped. Albert found his escape in
his community's one-room schoolhouse. As a young boy, Albert's school
hosted a visit by Charles Carter, their district's Native American congressman.
(03:18):
Upon meeting Carter, Albert decided he would become a congressman, too.
In high school, the diminutive Albert became a veritable big
man on campus. A wrestler and member of the speech team,
he won the 1928 National Oratory Contest, which netted a
meeting with President Calvin Coolidge and a trip to Europe.
(03:41):
Albert entered college at the University of Oklahoma, still poor,
but with unlimited horizons. In college, Albert excelled and eventually
earned a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University. He
spent his Oxford years deep in study, but he traveled
wide and far across Europe, verging towards war. Upon graduation,
(04:05):
he had only one wish, to return to his native
Oklahoma and redeem a boyhood dream. After serving in World
War II, Albert immediately ran for Congress. In 1946, Albert
won the House seat in Oklahoma's 3rd Congressional District, joining
him in the House for two other freshmen, John Kennedy
and Richard Nixon. Unlike those two future presidents, Albert had
(04:32):
no desire for the Senate or White House. He always
had what he termed the House habit. A lover of
the institution's rules and procedures, he, as a freshman member,
would sit on the floor for hours, watching and learning.
Taking note was the legendary Democratic leader Sam Rayburn. Hailing
(04:52):
from a North Texas district that abutted Albert's, Rayburn felt
a kinship with the Whip Smart Road Scholar. In 1954,
a mere eight years into his House career, Albert was
tapped by Rayburn to be Majority Whip. In leadership at
a young age, Albert was on path to be Speaker
(05:14):
of the House. To become Speaker, he had to navigate
choppy political waters. Civil rights loomed as Albert's primary political conundrum. Indeed,
his native southeastern Oklahoma was dubbed Little Dixie. Settled by
pro-Confederate Texans and Missourians after the Civil War, the Southern
(05:37):
Enclave practiced Jim Crow and segregation. But Albert, who attended
Oxford with classmates from all over the English Empire, was
modern and cosmopolitan. As a Rhodes Scholar, he had traveled
early 1930s Germany and saw Adolf Hitler give a speech
in and survived a run-in with brown shirts. He abhorred racism,
(06:00):
but he feared a strong pro-civil rights stance would lose
him his seat in the House and a chance at
the speakership. In the late 50s, Albert went to Rayburn
for advice. The Texan told him, Carl, every man has
a right to vote. You can defend that position before
any audience in this country. Albert later recalled, That cleared
(06:25):
it up for me immediately. For the first time, I
saw the issue in moral terms. As majority leader, Albert
pushed three civil rights bills to passage. Friends with moderates
and liberal firebrands, he wooed a majority to settle on
compromise bills that could pass and then transform a nation.
(06:49):
Gaining a political fortitude and courage, that could only be
forged in the white-hot political battles of the 1960s, he
compiled a voting record of a northern liberal while representing
a rural traditional district that abhorred the counterculture and supported
the Vietnam War. But every two years, Little Dixie sent
(07:10):
their native son back to Congress with 75 to 80
percent of the vote. Albert maintained popularity through constant constituent contact,
Flying home every weekend he could, he traversed his district
by car, and when forced to by floodwaters that washed
out a bridge, he forded a river on horseback to
(07:33):
meet constituents at a set time and place. When stuck
in Washington, he would take out a phone book and
call constituents at random to gauge voter sentiment. Known for
his scrupulous honesty, Albert had learned that his word was
the only currency that mattered in a district defined by
(07:53):
relationships and trust. When Democrats pleaded with Albert to let
the presidency come to him, they were wasting their breath.
To him, voters had elected a Republican to the White
House in 1972. It was not his or the Congress's
place to put a Democrat in the presidency. But when
(08:14):
Nixon met with Albert to discuss a vice president, he
held firm. As Speaker, he made it clear that only
one nominee would be considered, Gerald Ford. A political rival, Ford,
as the House GOP leader, had vied with Albert throughout
the 1960s. On opposite sides of the political spectrum, Ford
(08:36):
opposed most every social program Albert prized. Yet the two
had forged a relationship founded upon respect and comity. Ford
became Vice President and eventually President, because Carl Albert believed
rightly that he possessed the requisite character for the office.
Due to Albert, Congress confirmed Ford as vice president. Months later,
(09:01):
Nixon resigned. Ford assumed the presidency. Because Albert put the
nation above his personal ambition, a constitutional crisis had been averted.
In an era in which social media and opinion leaders
heedlessly and breathlessly debunk and depose cultural and political giants,
(09:25):
the little giant from Little Dixie might sound too good
to be real, but some legends are grounded in historical truth.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And a terrific job on the editing, production, and storytelling
by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to
Jeff Bloodworth, who's a professor of American history at Gannon University,
and he's a Jack Miller Center Fellow. And the Jack
Miller Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers
dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles
(09:58):
and history. To learn more, visit jackmillercenter.org. That's jackmillercenter.org. And
what a story about the little giant from Little Dixie.
And of course, we're talking about Carl Albert, Congressman Carl Albert,
who decided upon meeting a congressman while in high school.
That's what he wanted to do, and that's what he
(10:20):
became right out of his time serving the nation in
World War II. He put his nation above his ambition
and put the Constitution above all else. Republicans had elected
Nixon as a president, and it would be a Republican
that would replace him, and that would be Gerald Ford.
(10:41):
The story of Speaker of the House Carl Albert, here
on Our American Stories.
And we continue with Our American Stories. And our next
story comes to us from Jeff Bloodworth, who is a
professor of American history at Gannon University and is a
Jack Miller Center fellow. And the Jack Miller Center plays
a fundamental part of our history storytelling. You're on Our
American Stories and is a valued partner. Let's take a
(00:32):
listen to Jeff Bloodworth.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Carl Albert did not want to be president. The 5'4''
Speaker of the House had not risen from abject poverty
to the nation's second highest office by lacking ambition. But
in 1973, when the Speaker realized the Watergate crisis could
elevate him into the White House, he foreswore personal ambition
(00:57):
for the nation's greater good. We now know that Watergate
was America's greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War. But
in the first months of the scandal, Albert tread carefully.
The Senate Watergate Committee began its work in early 1973,
but Albert firmly resisted calls for the House to begin
impeachment proceedings before it was time. By late 1973, the
(01:22):
crisis had reached a crescendo when the Vice President, Spiro Agnew,
resigned over charges of bribery and tax evasion. This put
Albert into a political bind. With Agnew out, he, as
the Speaker, was next in line to the Presidency. And
revelations of the Watergate tapes and the Saturday Night Massacre
made Nixon's impeachment a real possibility. President Carl Albert was
(01:46):
not just a pipe dream. It was within his grasp.
The 25th Amendment gave Congress the power to vote on
Agnew's replacement. As Speaker, Albert could have killed the vote
without a vice president. Democrats who controlled the House and
Senate could impeach and remove Nixon from office, which would
(02:07):
make the Speaker of the House, Carl Albert, president. Eager
for the White House, many Democrats begged Albert to do
the easy thing. Do nothing and become president. A President
Albert with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate could
pursue a Carl Albert agenda, restart the Great Society, pass
(02:30):
national health care, address rural America's gaping needs, and achieve
a more honorable peace in Vietnam. But Albert would have
none of it. Born in tiny, bug-tussled Oklahoma to hardscrabble
tenant farmers, Carl Burt Albert came up the hard way.
His father had quit the dangers of coal mining for
(02:53):
the destitution that came with tenant farming. And bug-tussle, like
so many rural communities in southeastern Oklahoma... featured a grinding
poverty that most never escaped. Albert found his escape in
his community's one-room schoolhouse. As a young boy, Albert's school
hosted a visit by Charles Carter, their district's Native American congressman.
(03:18):
Upon meeting Carter, Albert decided he would become a congressman, too.
In high school, the diminutive Albert became a veritable big
man on campus. A wrestler and member of the speech team,
he won the 1928 National Oratory Contest, which netted a
meeting with President Calvin Coolidge and a trip to Europe.
(03:41):
Albert entered college at the University of Oklahoma, still poor,
but with unlimited horizons. In college, Albert excelled and eventually
earned a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University. He
spent his Oxford years deep in study, but he traveled
wide and far across Europe, verging towards war. Upon graduation,
(04:05):
he had only one wish, to return to his native
Oklahoma and redeem a boyhood dream. After serving in World
War II, Albert immediately ran for Congress. In 1946, Albert
won the House seat in Oklahoma's 3rd Congressional District, joining
him in the House for two other freshmen, John Kennedy
and Richard Nixon. Unlike those two future presidents, Albert had
(04:32):
no desire for the Senate or White House. He always
had what he termed the House habit. A lover of
the institution's rules and procedures, he, as a freshman member,
would sit on the floor for hours, watching and learning.
Taking note was the legendary Democratic leader Sam Rayburn. Hailing
(04:52):
from a North Texas district that abutted Albert's, Rayburn felt
a kinship with the Whip Smart Road Scholar. In 1954,
a mere eight years into his House career, Albert was
tapped by Rayburn to be Majority Whip. In leadership at
a young age, Albert was on path to be Speaker
(05:14):
of the House. To become Speaker, he had to navigate
choppy political waters. Civil rights loomed as Albert's primary political conundrum. Indeed,
his native southeastern Oklahoma was dubbed Little Dixie. Settled by
pro-Confederate Texans and Missourians after the Civil War, the Southern
(05:37):
Enclave practiced Jim Crow and segregation. But Albert, who attended
Oxford with classmates from all over the English Empire, was
modern and cosmopolitan. As a Rhodes Scholar, he had traveled
early 1930s Germany and saw Adolf Hitler give a speech
in and survived a run-in with brown shirts. He abhorred racism,
(06:00):
but he feared a strong pro-civil rights stance would lose
him his seat in the House and a chance at
the speakership. In the late 50s, Albert went to Rayburn
for advice. The Texan told him, Carl, every man has
a right to vote. You can defend that position before
any audience in this country. Albert later recalled, That cleared
(06:25):
it up for me immediately. For the first time, I
saw the issue in moral terms. As majority leader, Albert
pushed three civil rights bills to passage. Friends with moderates
and liberal firebrands, he wooed a majority to settle on
compromise bills that could pass and then transform a nation.
(06:49):
Gaining a political fortitude and courage, that could only be
forged in the white-hot political battles of the 1960s, he
compiled a voting record of a northern liberal while representing
a rural traditional district that abhorred the counterculture and supported
the Vietnam War. But every two years, Little Dixie sent
(07:10):
their native son back to Congress with 75 to 80
percent of the vote. Albert maintained popularity through constant constituent contact,
Flying home every weekend he could, he traversed his district
by car, and when forced to by floodwaters that washed
out a bridge, he forded a river on horseback to
(07:33):
meet constituents at a set time and place. When stuck
in Washington, he would take out a phone book and
call constituents at random to gauge voter sentiment. Known for
his scrupulous honesty, Albert had learned that his word was
the only currency that mattered in a district defined by
(07:53):
relationships and trust. When Democrats pleaded with Albert to let
the presidency come to him, they were wasting their breath.
To him, voters had elected a Republican to the White
House in 1972. It was not his or the Congress's
place to put a Democrat in the presidency. But when
(08:14):
Nixon met with Albert to discuss a vice president, he
held firm. As Speaker, he made it clear that only
one nominee would be considered, Gerald Ford. A political rival, Ford,
as the House GOP leader, had vied with Albert throughout
the 1960s. On opposite sides of the political spectrum, Ford
(08:36):
opposed most every social program Albert prized. Yet the two
had forged a relationship founded upon respect and comity. Ford
became Vice President and eventually President, because Carl Albert believed
rightly that he possessed the requisite character for the office.
Due to Albert, Congress confirmed Ford as vice president. Months later,
(09:01):
Nixon resigned. Ford assumed the presidency. Because Albert put the
nation above his personal ambition, a constitutional crisis had been averted.
In an era in which social media and opinion leaders
heedlessly and breathlessly debunk and depose cultural and political giants,
(09:25):
the little giant from Little Dixie might sound too good
to be real, but some legends are grounded in historical truth.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And a terrific job on the editing, production, and storytelling
by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to
Jeff Bloodworth, who's a professor of American history at Gannon University,
and he's a Jack Miller Center Fellow. And the Jack
Miller Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers
dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles
(09:58):
and history. To learn more, visit jackmillercenter.org. That's jackmillercenter.org. And
what a story about the little giant from Little Dixie.
And of course, we're talking about Carl Albert, Congressman Carl Albert,
who decided upon meeting a congressman while in high school.
That's what he wanted to do, and that's what he
(10:20):
became right out of his time serving the nation in
World War II. He put his nation above his ambition
and put the Constitution above all else. Republicans had elected
Nixon as a president, and it would be a Republican
that would replace him, and that would be Gerald Ford.
(10:41):
The story of Speaker of the House Carl Albert, here
on Our American Stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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