Final tribute paid to former speaker

Wednesday, February 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- Friends and relatives filed past the flag-draped casket of former U.S. House Speaker Carl Albert this morning in a huge room in an exposition center used for everything from cattle sales to concerts.

Enough padded folding chairs for a crowd of more than 2,600 people were set up in the center, picked because it could accommodate the anticipated crowd. A reception area was in place for about 40 members of Congress. "This is going to be a celebration of a man with a lot of accomplishments," said Lynn Roberts, executive vice president of the McAlester Chamber of Commerce.

Many of those in line had been touched or inspired by Albert during his long service in Congress. "He was my hero when I was growing up in high school," said John Enloe, director of the exposition center. He recalled how Albert quickly helped him get a teaching job after Enloe finished military service.

Twenty-six students at tiny Stuart Public Schools west of McAlester were among those paying their last respects. One of them,16-year-old Marshall Doig, recalled being introduced to Albert at the Pittsburg County Courthouse a year ago. "My stepdad always looked up to him," Doig said. "He seemed like a nice man. He told me to have a nice day."

Albert, speaker of the House during Vietnam and the Watergate scandal, was remembered on the eve of his funeral as a leader who put principle over personal political gain. Speakers on the eulogy list included former House Speaker Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., current Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.,U.S. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., University of Oklahoma President David Boren; former Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh; U.S. District Judge Vickie Miles LaGrange; veteran state Sen. Gene Stipe of McAlester and Albert's son, David, an Oklahoma City doctor.

Albert was born in McAlester and reared in the nearby tiny community of Bugtussle, where he began a love of education in a one-room schoolhouse that took him as a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford, England, where he earned a law degree. Victory in a national oratorical contest as a teen-ager whetted his appetite for politics. After that, he said, everything he did was calculated to becoming a congressman.

Only 5-foot-41/2, Albert was known as the "little giant" from Little Dixie, a Democratic area of southeastern Oklahoma that he represented for 30 years. The Oklahoma Legislature scheduled short sessions today so members could attend the service.

On Tuesday, the state Senate adopted a resolution praising Albert, whom Stipe described as "the greatest Oklahoman of our lifetime." The U.S. House approved a resolution by Rep. Wes Watkins' resolution expressing sorrow at Albert's death on a 390-0 vote.

Twice, Albert stood next in line of succession to the presidency-- in 1973 after Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and again when Nixon left at the height of Watergate. Albert, like most other congressmen, supported President Johnson in Vietnam. But in his autobiography, he said he never was enthusiastic about the war. In 1973, he helped lead House efforts to block further military operations in Southeast Asia. In addition to his son, Albert is survived by his wife, Mary; a daughter, Mary Frances Albert of Norman; a brother, Earl Albert of McAlester; a sister, Kathryn Peacock of McAlester and four grandchildren.