Albert, Carl Bert (1908-2000), an Oklahoma Democrat, was speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 until he retired in 1977. He had been majority leader of the House since 1962. Albert played an important role in the passage of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s domestic program in the mid-1960’s. He backed Johnson’s civil rights proposals even though his district generally opposed such legislation.
Albert was born on May 10, 1908, in McAlester, Oklahoma. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma and studied at Oxford University in England on a Rhodes scholarship. He began his first term in the House in 1947 and was majority whip from 1955 to 1962. Albert was chairman of the platform committee of the 1964 Democratic National Convention and was permanent chairman of the party’s 1968 national convention. He died on Feb. 4, 2000.
