Carl Albert

Carl Albert (May 10, 1908 - February 4, 2000) was an American politican from Oklahoma. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1947 to 1977 and served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 when he retired from political life. Albert was a member of the Democratic Party.

As Speaker of the House, Albert was second in line to assume the presidency following the resgination of Vice President Spiro Agnew. As the Watergate crisis began to unfold, President Richard Nixon was widely expected to resign before congress could appoint a new VP, a move that would make Albert the president.

Albert thus became one of the first modern Speakers to be seriously confronted with the issue of assuming the presidency. As a Democrat, Albert considered that he had no claim to running a White House that the American people had entrusted to a Republican. Therefore, he announced that should he be forced to assume the presidency, he would do so only in an acting capacity, and resign immediately after congress appointed a Republican Vice President.

Though the scenario never panned out, Albert nevertheless established an important precedent for the role of a Speaker of a different party who is confronted with assuming the White House.