Portal:Oklahoma/Selected Biography/6

Carl Bert Albert (May 10, 1908 – February 4, 2000) was a lawyer and a Democratic American politician from Oklahoma.

Albert represented the southeastern portion of Oklahoma (Congressional District 3) as a Democrat for 30 years, starting in 1947. He is best known for his service as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977. When Speaker John W. McCormack retired in January 1971, during the second half of Richard Nixon's first term as president, Albert was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. Albert's Chief of Staff was Charles Ward, a respected Washington DC leader and former newspaper editor from Oklahoma. As the Watergate scandal developed in 1973, Albert, as Speaker, referred some two dozen impeachment resolutions to the House Judiciary Committee for debate and study.

At 5 feet 4 inches tall, Albert was often affectionately known as the "Little Giant from Little Dixie", and held the highest political office of any Oklahoman in American history. (Read more...)