Carl Albert

Today's Birthday Carl Bert Albert (May 10, 1908 – February 4, 2000) was a lawyer and a Democratic American politician from Oklahoma. Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977. At 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 metres) tall, Albert was often affectionately known as the "Little Giant from Little Dixie", and held the highest political office of any Oklahoman in American history.
Albert joined the United States Army as a private in 1941. He served with the Third Armored Division briefly, but was soon commissioned a second lieutenant. Most of his service was with the Judge Advocate General Corps. While in the army, Albert married Mary Harmon on August 20, 1942, in Columbia, South Carolina, just before he was sent to the South Pacific. The couple had two children, Mary Frances and David. For his service, Albert earned a Bronze Star, and saw service in the Pacific Theater, where he served in the office of the judge advocate general on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur. He left the Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1946.