From my first active participation in politics as an eleven-year-old boy in Muskogee working in Ed Edmondson's first campaign for Congress, Carl Albert stood out for me as the example and inspiration of how a poor kid from rural Oklahoma can achieve success and make a lasting impression to his country.

And throughout his distinguished career, Carl Albert also set the example of how to wear that success with honor and humility, never forgetting the people back home who made that success possible.

Speaker Albert's death marked the end of an era in which he led probably the most powerful congressional teams Oklahoma has ever sent to Washington. These were giants such as Senators Robert Kerr and Mike Monroney, Congressmen Tom Steed, Ed Edmondson and Page Belcher who "brought home the bacon" and rebuilt Oklahoma from its Dust Bowl days of out migration to a state of economic opportunity and recreational beauty. But the "Little Giant from Little Dixie" stood tallest of them all.

I have many fond memories of Speaker Albert. Perhaps the fondest of all was his constant desire to help people, especially young Oklahomans. That passion for helping young people continued even after his active days of politics. About three years ago, while I was Ambassador to Mexico, Speaker Albert called me saying he wanted me to help a young man who was working in his McAlester office. It was obvious that age and illness had made his voice less forceful. But when he started telling me why this young man should be an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, the strength came back to his voice and the fire to help another young person find achievement returned. While there was no provision for such an internship at the Embassy, needless to say we found a way to bring the Speaker's latest protégé on board at the Embassy. Carl Albert was the kind of person who lived a life of such goodness, you always wanted to find a way to comply with any request he made.

Carl Albert believed deeply in democracy and America's democratic institutions. I had the opportunity to observe that up close during my first two terms in Congress during the Watergate crisis and its aftermath. At the time, I was on the House Democratic leadership team as a regional majority whip. There were some powerful, partisan Democrats who wanted Speaker Albert to play hardball partisan politics even to the extent of recapturing the presidency from the Republicans through the constitutional succession process. Speaker Albert resisted. He reminded us all that Watergate was not a partisan opportunity. It was a constitutional crisis and had to be handled in the most honorable, legal and nonpartisan manner. He told our leadership meetings that the American people must come out of that experience with confidence in our system of government and respect for the fairness of the process.

He could have easily been president. But he was a man of history and he knew that history demanded a fair process. Those were very difficult times and the pressure on Carl Albert from all sides was as intense as can be imagined. He never waivered in his respect for the Constitution and in his belief in basic fairness and the rule of the law. Speaker Albert was no flashy show horse who sought the headlines. Because of that, he was not heralded as much as he deserved for the forceful yet delicate role he played in guiding us through the rocky constitutional road of Watergate.

Carl Albert understood that our democratic institutions such as the U.S. Congress must constantly adhere to constitutional principles but be flexible enough to change with the times. When I was at the White House on President Johnson's staff, Carl Albert was clearly the most accurate and effective vote-getter and vote-counter on Capitol Hill. He understood the old seniority system. He knew the strengths and foibles of members of Congress. He had the patience to listen for hours to his colleagues and to help them. He understood and practiced loyalty and trustworthiness. He instinctively knew the power points to press. All of those characteristics made him effective when President Johnson relied on him to pass far-reaching social legislation such as landmark civil rights bills and the Great Society programs through the House of Representatives.

Then in the 1970s, as a result of Watergate and Vietnam, the American electorate were sending men and women to Congress to open up the system and demand that Congress play a more forceful role vis-á-vis the executive branch. This was the era of revamping the seniority system, putting sunshine rules onto the deliberations of congressional committees and the House of Representatives itself.

It was a time of the War Powers Act that limited a president's ability to commit U.S. troops to foreign battlefields without some participation of the Congress. It was time for passing the Budget and Impoundment Act which established new congressional institutions to require that Congress share responsibility with the Executive for developing and implementing fiscal policy.

This was a period of enormous structural change in Congress. Carl Albert presided over that change quietly but effectively. He insisted that change be balanced and that it evolve in a way that maintains stability.

That was the kind of person Carl Albert was. He was a leader without doubt. But he was a leader who had a sense of inner confidence, and that allowed him to share the power of leadership with others. 

History will record that he was at the epicenter of some of the most dramatic events that shaped the twentieth century. He performed his responsibilities with intelligence, honor and dedication of a true patriot.