On this episode of Our American Stories, he was known as the Little Giant from Little Dixie. He would rise to become the Speaker of the House during the Watergate years. Hear his story of putting principle over politics.
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Episode Transcript
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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 are now
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 five
foot four inch Speaker of the House had not risen
from abject poverty to the nation's second highest office by
lacking ambition. But in nineteen seventy three, when the Speaker
realized the Watergate crisis could elevate him into the White House,
(00:55):
he forced war personal ambition 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 nineteen seventy three, but Albert firmly
resisted calls for the House to begin impeachment proceedings before
(01:19):
it was time. By late nineteen seventy three, the crisis
had reached a crescendo when the Vice President, Spiro Agnew,
resigned over charge as of bribery tax evasion. This put
Albert into a political bind with Agnew out, He as
the Speaker, was next in line to the presidency, and
revelation to the Watergate tapes and the Saturday Night massacre
(01:41):
made Nixon's impeachment a real possibility. President Carl Albert was
not just a pipe dream. It was within his grasp.
The twenty fifth 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
(02:03):
Senate could impeach and remove Nixon from office, which would
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
(02:26):
a Carl Albert agenda, restart the Great Society, past national
health care, address rule America's gaping needs, and achieve a
more honorable peace in Vietnam. But Albert would have none
of it. Born in tiny bug Tuzzle, Oklahoma to hard
scrabbled tenant farmers. Carl Bert Albert came up the hard way.
(02:50):
His father had quit the dangers of coal mining for
the destitution that came with tenant farming and bug Tussel.
Like so many rural communities in southeast in Oklahoma, featured
a grinding poverty that most never escaped. Albert found his
escape in his community's one room schoolhouse. As a young boy,
(03:11):
Albert school hosted a visit by Charles Carter, their district's
native American congressman. Upon meeting Carter, Albert decided he would
become a congressman. Two in high school, the diminutive Albert
became a veritable big man on campus, a wrestler and
(03:31):
member of the speech team. He won the nineteen twenty
eight National Oratory Contest, which netted a meeting with President
Calvin Coolidge and a trip to Europe. Albert entered college
at the University of Oklahoma, still poor, but with unlimited horizons.
In college, Albert excelled and eventually earned a Rhodes scholarship
(03:54):
to study at Oxford University. He spent his Oxford years
deep in study, but he traveled wide and far across
a Europe verging towards war. Upon graduation, he had only
one wish to return to his native Oklahoma and redeem
a boyhood dream. After serving in World War II, Albert
(04:14):
immediately ran for Congress. In nineteen forty six, Albert won
the House seat in Oklahoma's third congressional district, joining him
in the House for two other freshmen, John Kennedy and
Richard Nixon. Unlike those two future presidents, Albert had no
desire for the Senate or White House. He always had
(04:36):
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 from
a North Texas district that abudded Albert's, Rayburn felt a
(04:57):
kinship with the whips smart Roads. In nineteen fifty four,
a mere eight years into his House's career, Albert was
tapped by Rayburn to be majority Whip in leadership. At
a young age, Albert was on path to be Speaker
of the House. To become Speaker, he had to navigate
(05:19):
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 enclave practiced Jim Crow in segregation. But Albert, who
(05:41):
attended Oxford with classmates from all over the English Empire,
was modern and cosmopolitan. As a Rhodes scholar, he had
traveled early nineteen thirties Germany and saw Adolf Hitler give
a speech and survived the run in with brown Shirts.
He abhorred races, but he feared a strong pro civil
(06:02):
rights stance would lose him his seat in the House
and a chance at the speakership. In the late fifties,
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
(06:23):
recalled that cleared 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 compromised bills that could pass and then
(06:47):
transform a nation, gaining a political fortitude and courage that
could only be forged in the white hot political battles
of the nineteen sixties. 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
(07:08):
two years Little Dixie sent their native son back to
Congress was seventy five to eighty percent.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Of the vote.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
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 meet constituents at
a set time and place. When stuck in Washington, he
(07:38):
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 relationships and trust.
When Democrats pleaded with Albert to let the presentidency come
(08:00):
to him, they were wasting their breath to him. Voters
had elected a Republican to the White House in nineteen
seventy two. It was not his or the Congress's place
to put a Democrat in the presidency. But when Nixon
met with Albert to discuss a vice president, he held firm.
As speaker, he made it clear that only one nominee
(08:23):
would be considered. Gerald Ford a political rival. Ford, as
the House GOP leader, had vied with Albert throughout the
nineteen sixties on opposite side to the political spectrum. Ford
opposed most every social program Albert prized, yet the two
had forged a relationship founded upon respect and committee. Ford
(08:45):
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,
Nixon resigned. Ford assumed the presidency because Albert put the
(09:06):
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.
The Little Giant from Little Dixie might sound too good
(09:29):
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 Bludworth 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
(09:57):
principles and history. To learn more or visit Jackmillercenter dot org.
That's Jackmillercenter dot 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
(10:19):
to do, and that's what he became right out of
his time serving the nation in World War Two. 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. The story of Speaker
(10:42):
of the House Carl Albert. Here on our American Story
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 are now
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 five
foot four inch Speaker of the House had not risen
from abject poverty to the nation's second highest office by
lacking ambition. But in nineteen seventy three, when the Speaker
realized the Watergate crisis could elevate him into the White House,
(00:55):
he forced war personal ambition 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 nineteen seventy three, but Albert firmly
resisted calls for the House to begin impeachment proceedings before
(01:19):
it was time. By late nineteen seventy three, the crisis
had reached a crescendo when the Vice President, Spiro Agnew,
resigned over charge as of bribery tax evasion. This put
Albert into a political bind with Agnew out, He as
the Speaker, was next in line to the presidency, and
revelation to the Watergate tapes and the Saturday Night massacre
(01:41):
made Nixon's impeachment a real possibility. President Carl Albert was
not just a pipe dream. It was within his grasp.
The twenty fifth 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
(02:03):
Senate could impeach and remove Nixon from office, which would
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
(02:26):
a Carl Albert agenda, restart the Great Society, past national
health care, address rule America's gaping needs, and achieve a
more honorable peace in Vietnam. But Albert would have none
of it. Born in tiny bug Tuzzle, Oklahoma to hard
scrabbled tenant farmers. Carl Bert Albert came up the hard way.
(02:50):
His father had quit the dangers of coal mining for
the destitution that came with tenant farming and bug Tussel.
Like so many rural communities in southeast in Oklahoma, featured
a grinding poverty that most never escaped. Albert found his
escape in his community's one room schoolhouse. As a young boy,
(03:11):
Albert school hosted a visit by Charles Carter, their district's
native American congressman. Upon meeting Carter, Albert decided he would
become a congressman. Two in high school, the diminutive Albert
became a veritable big man on campus, a wrestler and
(03:31):
member of the speech team. He won the nineteen twenty
eight National Oratory Contest, which netted a meeting with President
Calvin Coolidge and a trip to Europe. Albert entered college
at the University of Oklahoma, still poor, but with unlimited horizons.
In college, Albert excelled and eventually earned a Rhodes scholarship
(03:54):
to study at Oxford University. He spent his Oxford years
deep in study, but he traveled wide and far across
a Europe verging towards war. Upon graduation, he had only
one wish to return to his native Oklahoma and redeem
a boyhood dream. After serving in World War II, Albert
(04:14):
immediately ran for Congress. In nineteen forty six, Albert won
the House seat in Oklahoma's third congressional district, joining him
in the House for two other freshmen, John Kennedy and
Richard Nixon. Unlike those two future presidents, Albert had no
desire for the Senate or White House. He always had
(04:36):
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 from
a North Texas district that abudded Albert's, Rayburn felt a
(04:57):
kinship with the whips smart Roads. In nineteen fifty four,
a mere eight years into his House's career, Albert was
tapped by Rayburn to be majority Whip in leadership. At
a young age, Albert was on path to be Speaker
of the House. To become Speaker, he had to navigate
(05:19):
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 enclave practiced Jim Crow in segregation. But Albert, who
(05:41):
attended Oxford with classmates from all over the English Empire,
was modern and cosmopolitan. As a Rhodes scholar, he had
traveled early nineteen thirties Germany and saw Adolf Hitler give
a speech and survived the run in with brown Shirts.
He abhorred races, but he feared a strong pro civil
(06:02):
rights stance would lose him his seat in the House
and a chance at the speakership. In the late fifties,
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
(06:23):
recalled that cleared 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 compromised bills that could pass and then
(06:47):
transform a nation, gaining a political fortitude and courage that
could only be forged in the white hot political battles
of the nineteen sixties. 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
(07:08):
two years Little Dixie sent their native son back to
Congress was seventy five to eighty percent.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Of the vote.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
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 meet constituents at
a set time and place. When stuck in Washington, he
(07:38):
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 relationships and trust.
When Democrats pleaded with Albert to let the presentidency come
(08:00):
to him, they were wasting their breath to him. Voters
had elected a Republican to the White House in nineteen
seventy two. It was not his or the Congress's place
to put a Democrat in the presidency. But when Nixon
met with Albert to discuss a vice president, he held firm.
As speaker, he made it clear that only one nominee
(08:23):
would be considered. Gerald Ford a political rival. Ford, as
the House GOP leader, had vied with Albert throughout the
nineteen sixties on opposite side to the political spectrum. Ford
opposed most every social program Albert prized, yet the two
had forged a relationship founded upon respect and committee. Ford
(08:45):
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,
Nixon resigned. Ford assumed the presidency because Albert put the
(09:06):
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.
The Little Giant from Little Dixie might sound too good
(09:29):
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 Bludworth 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
(09:57):
principles and history. To learn more or visit Jackmillercenter dot org.
That's Jackmillercenter dot 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
(10:19):
to do, and that's what he became right out of
his time serving the nation in World War Two. 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. The story of Speaker
(10:42):
of the House Carl Albert. Here on our American Story
Host
Lee Habeeb
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