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ALBERT
THOMASby
Archie P. McDonald | |
One
of the most famous photos ever made shows Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath as
president aboard Air Force One shortly after the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy. In the photo, a tall, trim man wearing a bow tie bends in to get a
better view of President Johnson and Justice Sarah Hughes, who administered the
oath. That man was Albert Thomas, who represented the Eighth Congressional District
— essentially, Harris County and Houston — in Congress for fifteen terms.
Thomas was born in Nacogdoches
on April 12, 1898. He attended local schools, worked in his father’s store, and
served as a lieutenant in the Army during WWI before graduating from the Rice
Institute and the University of Texas Law School. He practiced law and served
as Nacogdoches County attorney before moving to Houston in 1930 to become assistant
US district attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
Thomas won the
race to represent the Eighth District in the US House of Representatives in 1936
and held that post until his death thirty years later. He rose to committee chair
status, including chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Likely Representative
Thomas’ best remembered service was in helping make the decision to locate the
headquarters for the National Aeronautics and Space Agency, later known as the
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, in the Houston area. When President Kennedy made
the announcement, he deliberately credited Thomas with "delivering the greatest
payroll...I mean payload" possible to his district.
Thomas was with Kennedy
and Johnson in Dallas on November 22, 1963, because the evening before they had
attended his sixty-fifth birthday party in Houston and urged him to remain in
Congress. Earlier, Thomas had said that he might not seek reelection in 1964 because
of age and health. He had joined the president’s party for the remainder of Kennedy’s
Texas visit, got swept up in the events in Dallas, and accompanied President Johnson
and President Kennedy’s body back to Washington. Thomas continued to serve in
Congress until his death on February 15, 1966.
© Archie P. McDonald
All
Things Historical >
November
, 2004 column
A syndicated column in over 40 East Texas newspapers
This
column is provided as a public service by the East Texas Historical Association.
Archie P. McDonald is director of the Association and author of more than 20 books
on Texas. | | |
