Carl Albert

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Carl Albert

Carl Bert Albert (born May 10, 1908 in McAlester , Pittsburg County , Oklahoma , † February 4, 2000 there ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party . He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 .

Life

Although Albert grew up poorly as the son of a miner, he was already educated as a school child. He left high school in his place as the best in his class and then studied political science at the University of Oklahoma in Norman . He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1931 and studied law at Oxford University until 1934 . After graduating, Albert worked in the federal housing department until 1937. After he was admitted to the bar in 1935, he worked as such in Oklahoma City until 1940 . He was then drafted into the army and used in World War II , where he made it to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . He was later awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his services . After the war he worked as a lawyer again until 1947. Since 1942 Albert was married to Mary Harmon, the couple had a son and a daughter.

politics

Albert ran as a Democratic candidate for the 1946 congressional election and was also elected to the House of Representatives. In the following years he worked his way up the career ladder, in 1962 he became majority leader , that is, leader of the Democratic Group. When the Speaker of the House of Representatives , John W. McCormack , announced that he would not stand again in the 1970 election of Congress for reasons of age, Albert was proposed and also elected, and he took up his new office in the spring of 1971. During the first term of office, Albert tried to expand the spokesperson's power by giving him the opportunity to propose bills himself after a period of time. His application was denied. In the period that followed, he increasingly moderated. He became less assertive, so that more and more politicians, including his own party, demanded a spokesman with more leadership will. After Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in October 1973 because of a bribery scandal, until December 1973, when Gerald Ford was appointed new Vice President, there was a realistic possibility that Albert would have succeeded the President of the United States , as it was expected at that time that incumbent President Richard Nixon would step down in the wake of the Watergate affair . Albert was of the opinion that he had no right to hold an office that the electorate had entrusted to a Republican and announced that in the event of his acting presidency he would soon appoint a Republican vice-president and then step down in his favor. Albert was re-elected in 1975. In the two years of his third term in office he was involved in social measures and advocated the Vietnam War . In 1976, he announced that he would not run again in the election at the end of the year and gave reasons for his age.

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personal data
SURNAME Albert, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Albert, Carl Bert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH McAlester , Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 2000
Place of death McAlester , Oklahoma