Final tribute paid to former speaker

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- Carl Albert, speaker of the House during Vietnam and the Watergate scandal, was remembered on the eve of his funeral as leader who put principle over personal political gain.

Wednesday, February 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- Carl Albert, speaker of the House during Vietnam and the Watergate scandal, was remembered on the eve of his funeral as leader who put principle over personal political gain. Congressional and state leaders planned to be among the thousands attending Albert's funeral this afternoon at an exposition center in McAlester, where his body lay in state for public viewing. He died Friday at 91 after years of frail health.

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 here presented 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 390-0vote. 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; adaughter, Mary Frances Albert of Norman; a brother, Earl Albert of McAlester; a sister, Kathryn Peacock of McAlester and four grandchildren.