TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A neighbor complained to U.S. House Speaker Carl Albert that a van full of people had set up in the alley near their Washington, D.C., apartment building.
The neighbor had been abroad and was unaware that Albert had become next in line of succession to be president after then-Vice President Spiro Agnew had resigned in disgrace on Oct. 10, 1973.
And the “hippies” in the alley were Secret Service agents providing security for Albert and his wife, Mary.
The Tulsa World (https://bit.ly/2r6YAoW ) reports that Albert served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the highest elected public office held by an Oklahoman, from 1971 to 1977. As such, he was thrust into the unfolding Watergate scandal.
The Democrat, known as “the little giant from Little Dixie” because of his 5-foot-4-inch stature, was now a heartbeat away from the presidency. If Nixon, a Republican, had been removed from office or forced to resign before Gerald Ford was confirmed as Agnew’s replacement, Albert theoretically could have become acting president.
This was the first time since the ratification of the 25th Amendment that it was possible for a member of one party to assume the presidency after a member of the opposing party vacated the office.
The biggest difference made by his sudden change in status, Albert wrote in his memoirs, was that “the Secret Service invaded my Washington apartment.”
“For invaders, they were a nice-enough occupation army,” Albert said in his 1990 book, “Little Giant: The Life and Times of Speaker Carl Albert,” co-written with Danney Goble.
He said the agents accompanied him everywhere and installed a hotline in his bedroom connecting him directly to the White House. The agents also closed the draperies whenever he was at home to thwart snipers.
“Mary threw them open as soon as I left in the morning because she was not particularly worried about snipers. The agents also offered to help Mary carry out the garbage, but she would not allow it. Maybe they feared a bomb in the dumpster. I do not know. I do know that they X-rayed everything that entered our little apartment,” Albert recalled.
When Nixon ordered the firing of Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, the so-called “Saturday Night Massacre,” he set the stage for his own downfall.
During this period, Albert had the responsibility of overseeing the House - which alone had the constitutional power of impeachment - and got lots of unsolicited “foolish advice,” he said.
“Otherwise sensible people saw a chance to forestall Ford’s confirmation, impeach and remove Nixon, and hand the presidency to the next in line, me,” he said. Instead, he referred all impeachment resolutions to the somewhat obscure judiciary committee.
The vice presidency was vacant about seven weeks before Ford was confirmed and sworn in as vice president in December 1973.
Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, and Ford became president. Once again, without a vice president, Albert was next in line for the presidency.
“The Secret Service parked its van in the alley again, installed another hotline and started drawing my drapes,” Albert said.
Tulsa World Washington reporter Mike Flanagan wrote that “Albert seems to regard his Secret Service detail as nice people who have been stranded in his house by history’s longest snowstorm.”
Flanagan said Albert “has been the kind of public official that doesn’t like to impose even on people who are hired for his convenience.”
For instance, Flanagan said, whenever Albert attended a dinner he made sure his official House limousine driver was invited in for a bite to eat and occasionally drove his personal car to give the driver time off.
The Secret Service would have none of that.
“They don’t like me to drive,” Albert told Flanagan.
Ford nominated former New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, who was confirmed and sworn into office as vice president in December 1974.
Albert remained Speaker until he retired in January 1977 and returned to McAlester after 30 years in Congress.
His life was a rags-to-riches story of talent, determination and ambition.
The son of a coal miner, Albert was born in McAlester and attended tiny Bugtussle School. He developed a powerful voice by speaking underneath railroad trestles and won a national oratory contest that helped pay his way through the University of Oklahoma.
A Rhodes Scholar, Albert earned a law degree and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel during World War II. He narrowly won his first election as 3rd District representative in 1946.
Carl Albert died in 2000 at age 91.
___
Information from: Tulsa World, https://www.tulsaworld.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.