Albert Thomas (politician, 1898)

Albert Thomas (back, second from left) as an eyewitness to President Lyndon B. Johnson's swearing in aboard Air Force One following the assassination attempt on John F. Kennedy.

Albert Richard Thomas (born April 12, 1898 in Nacogdoches , Texas , † February 15, 1966 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Texas in the US House of Representatives .

Life

Thomas attended public schools. He then served as a second lieutenant in the US Army during the First World War . After the war, he went to the Rice Institute in Houston , where he graduated in 1920. He then attended the Law Department of the University of Texas at Austin , where he graduated in 1926. He was admitted to the bar in 1927 and immediately began practicing in Nacogdoches . He was married to Lera Millard Thomas .

Thomas served as the County Attorney of Nacogdoches County from 1927 to 1930 . He then served as the US Assistant District Attorney for the Southern District of Texas from 1930 to 1936. He was elected to the 75th US Congress and the 14 subsequent congresses, where he served from January 3, 1937 until his death on February 15, 1966. During his tenure in Congress, he was Chairman of Committee on Elections No. 3 ( 76th US Congress ). He also refused to sign the Southern Manifesto in 1956 , which spoke out against racial integration in public institutions. He was buried in the Veterans' Administration Cemetery in Houston.

Albert Thomas was part of the Democratic delegation when US President John F. Kennedy visited Texas in November 1963. After the assassination attempt on the President, he was an eyewitness to the swearing-in of Lyndon B. Johnson as Kennedy's successor aboard Air Force One .

Web links

• Albert Thomas in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Albert Thomas in the database of Find a Grave (English)