Bruce Alger
Encyclopedia
Bruce Reynolds Alger is an American
politician and a former Republican
U.S. representative from Texas
, the first to have represented a Dallas
district since Reconstruction. He served from 1955 until 1965. He was born in Dallas but was reared in Webster Groves, Missouri
, a small suburb of St. Louis
, Missouri
.
in New Jersey
on a scholarship. He studied philosophy
, art
, and music
, and was a center for the football team. After his graduation in 1940, he went to work for the RCA Corporation as a field representative. With the coming of World War II
, he joined the United States Army
, assigned to Squadron 5 at the Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School at Kerry Field, Texas. He flew bombers and attained the rank of captain, claiming to be among the first American troops in Japan after the conclusion of the war in August 1945. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross
. On returning to civilian life, RCA refused to rehire him on the grounds that he had been out of television production for too long.
In 1945, Alger moved to Dallas and formed his own real estate
and land development company. He was chosen as the first president of the White Rock Chamber of Commerce
.
's 24,904 (47.1 percent). He was the only Republican in the Texas delegation for eight years until 1963, when Ed Foreman
of Odessa
, later of Dallas, joined him for two years.
Alger served during the heyday of the Lyndon B. Johnson
and Sam Rayburn
era. As a Republican and a most conservative Republican at that, he was the odd man out in the Texas delegation. Alger considered himself an individualist, a Constitutionalist, and a man of principles. Critics, however, equated his principles to stubbornness.
His belief in limited government
conflicted with many of his colleagues, who expected to trade for votes on various issues and projects, something he refused to do. In the era of civil rights, he believed that solutions lay with local, not national government. He maintained that the national government should concentrate on defense and foreign affairs. He believed that the responsibility for social programs belonged at the local level. He was the only member of the House, for example, to oppose the popular school lunch program.
According to Time
magazine (January 6, 1958), Alger assessed the upcoming second session of the Democratic 85th Congress in a pessimistic but resolved vein: "I foresee bitterness and hatefulness... We are going to squabble and fight and make the world think we hate each other and that we can't solve our problems. We are going to have bigger and bigger budgets, higher taxes, more government spending at home and abroad, and more inflation accompanied by deficit financing. Happy New Year!"
In 1960, Alger organized a protest at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas against Lyndon Johnson, by then the U.S. Senate majority leader, who was campaigning to become Vice President
as John F. Kennedy
's running mate. Alger held a placard which stated, "LBJ Sold Out to Yankee Socialists." The rally turned ugly, and Lady Bird Johnson
was spat upon by a protestor.
House Speaker
Sam Rayburn of Bonham
particularly disliked Alger and was often brutal toward the Republican "interloper" in the Texas delegation. Lyndon Johnson, on the other hand, was often deferential to the Republican U.S. Senator John G. Tower, Johnson's 1960 general election opponent and long-term Senate successor, because of Tower's support for Johnson on the Vietnam War
. Rayburn, though friendly with House Republican Leader Joseph W. Martin of Massachusetts
, would have been elated had he lived to see Alger defeated after a decade of House service.
, the Dallas County district attorney
who emerged seventeen years later as the defendant in the Roe v. Wade
abortion
case. Alger polled 102,380 (55.6 percent) to Wade's 81,705 (44.4 percent). In 1958, a heavily Democratic year nationally, Alger defeated Barefoot Sanders, 62,722 (52.6 percent) to 56,566 (47.4 percent). Sanders was later appointed a U.S. District Judge by President Johnson and was in 1972 the unsuccessful Democratic nominee against Senator Tower.
Alger's opposition to "big government" in time worked against him politically. In 1962, he won his last term in the House with 89,938 votes (56.3 percent) to Democrat Bill Jones' 69,813 (43.7 percent). He was unseated in the 1964 general election by the former mayor
of Dallas, Democrat Earle Cabell
. Alger polled 127,568 ballots (only 42.5 percent), a considerable number of votes in a House election. Yet, turnout was so much higher in 1964 than in 1962 that Alger lost even though he polled nearly 40,000 more votes in the latter year than in the former. Cabell prevailed with 172,287 (57.5 percent). Alger's defeat can be attributed to:
In a 1971 interview with Joe B. Frantz of the University of Texas, John Tower discussed his relationship with Alger, noting that Tower would have deferred to Alger in the 1961 special U.S. Senate election had Alger wanted to run:
"Bruce and I got along very well together. Bruce is a very inflexible man, and a suspicious man. He questioned the intellectual honesty of men like Mr. Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson, and so he just didn't make any friends. I have never yet publicly said one disparaging word about a fellow member of the Texas delegation, and don't intend to, although some of them have been inclined to say things about me publicly from time to time. I won't respond."
Alger resides in Carrollton
in Dallas County
. He and James D. Martin
, a Republican from Alabama
, are among the oldest living former members of the U.S. House.
, a lawmaker from a Galveston, Texas
from 1897-1901.
Cabell represented the Fifth District until his defeat in 1972 by Republican Alan Steelman
. The seat reverted to the Democrats in 1976, when Jim Mattox
was elected to succeed Steelman. Steelman ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate that year instead of reelection to a third House term.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician and a former Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
U.S. representative from Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, the first to have represented a Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
district since Reconstruction. He served from 1955 until 1965. He was born in Dallas but was reared in Webster Groves, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, a small suburb of St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
Early Life, Education, and business career
Alger was born to David Bruce Alger, a bank representative, and Clare Alger (née Freeman), an aspiring poet and writer, in Dallas, Texas, in 1918. Alger attended Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
on a scholarship. He studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and was a center for the football team. After his graduation in 1940, he went to work for the RCA Corporation as a field representative. With the coming of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he joined the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, assigned to Squadron 5 at the Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School at Kerry Field, Texas. He flew bombers and attained the rank of captain, claiming to be among the first American troops in Japan after the conclusion of the war in August 1945. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
. On returning to civilian life, RCA refused to rehire him on the grounds that he had been out of television production for too long.
In 1945, Alger moved to Dallas and formed his own real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
and land development company. He was chosen as the first president of the White Rock Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
.
Congressional service (1955–1965)
In 1954, Alger became the Republican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives for the Fifth Congressional District. Given Texas' Democratic tradition, it was unexpected that he would win. Yet, Alger received 27,982 ballots (52.9 percent) to Democrat Wallace H. SavageWallace H. Savage
Wallace Savage , attorney, was mayor of Dallas 1949-1951.-Biography:Wallace Hamilton Savage was born in November 21, 1912 in Houston, Harris, Texas to Homer Hamilton Savage and Mary Wallace. He married Dorothy Minnie Harris, daughter of William R. and Lillie E. Harris on September 17, 1940 in Dallas...
's 24,904 (47.1 percent). He was the only Republican in the Texas delegation for eight years until 1963, when Ed Foreman
Ed Foreman
Edgar Franklin "Ed" Foreman is a motivational speaker in Dallas. He served one term representing a district in west Texas in the United States House of Representatives in 1963-65 and he served one term representing the southern district of New Mexico in Congress from 1969-71.-Early years in New...
of Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
, later of Dallas, joined him for two years.
Alger served during the heyday of the Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
and Sam Rayburn
Sam Rayburn
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn , often called "Mr. Sam," or "Mr. Democrat," was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.- Background :Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, and...
era. As a Republican and a most conservative Republican at that, he was the odd man out in the Texas delegation. Alger considered himself an individualist, a Constitutionalist, and a man of principles. Critics, however, equated his principles to stubbornness.
His belief in limited government
Limited government
Limited government is a government which anything more than minimal governmental intervention in personal liberties and the economy is generally disallowed by law, usually in a written constitution. It is written in the United States Constitution in Article 1, Section 8...
conflicted with many of his colleagues, who expected to trade for votes on various issues and projects, something he refused to do. In the era of civil rights, he believed that solutions lay with local, not national government. He maintained that the national government should concentrate on defense and foreign affairs. He believed that the responsibility for social programs belonged at the local level. He was the only member of the House, for example, to oppose the popular school lunch program.
According to Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine (January 6, 1958), Alger assessed the upcoming second session of the Democratic 85th Congress in a pessimistic but resolved vein: "I foresee bitterness and hatefulness... We are going to squabble and fight and make the world think we hate each other and that we can't solve our problems. We are going to have bigger and bigger budgets, higher taxes, more government spending at home and abroad, and more inflation accompanied by deficit financing. Happy New Year!"
In 1960, Alger organized a protest at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas against Lyndon Johnson, by then the U.S. Senate majority leader, who was campaigning to become Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
as John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's running mate. Alger held a placard which stated, "LBJ Sold Out to Yankee Socialists." The rally turned ugly, and Lady Bird Johnson
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that...
was spat upon by a protestor.
House Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
Sam Rayburn of Bonham
Bonham, Texas
Bonham is a city in Fannin County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,127 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fannin County. James Bonham sought the aid of James Fannin at the Battle of the Alamo....
particularly disliked Alger and was often brutal toward the Republican "interloper" in the Texas delegation. Lyndon Johnson, on the other hand, was often deferential to the Republican U.S. Senator John G. Tower, Johnson's 1960 general election opponent and long-term Senate successor, because of Tower's support for Johnson on the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Rayburn, though friendly with House Republican Leader Joseph W. Martin of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, would have been elated had he lived to see Alger defeated after a decade of House service.
Defeated for reelection, 1964
In 1956 and 1958, Alger defeated two Democrats who later became well-known names in the state. In 1956, he edged Henry WadeHenry Wade
Henry Menasco Wade , was a Texas lawyer who participated in two of the most notable U.S. court cases of the 20th century, the prosecution of Jack Ruby for killing Lee Harvey Oswald and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision legalizing abortion, Roe v. Wade...
, the Dallas County district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
who emerged seventeen years later as the defendant in the Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...
abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
case. Alger polled 102,380 (55.6 percent) to Wade's 81,705 (44.4 percent). In 1958, a heavily Democratic year nationally, Alger defeated Barefoot Sanders, 62,722 (52.6 percent) to 56,566 (47.4 percent). Sanders was later appointed a U.S. District Judge by President Johnson and was in 1972 the unsuccessful Democratic nominee against Senator Tower.
Alger's opposition to "big government" in time worked against him politically. In 1962, he won his last term in the House with 89,938 votes (56.3 percent) to Democrat Bill Jones' 69,813 (43.7 percent). He was unseated in the 1964 general election by the former mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Dallas, Democrat Earle Cabell
Earle Cabell
Earle Cabell , was a Texas politician who served as mayor of Dallas, Texas. Cabell was mayor at the time of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was later a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was son of Dallas mayor Ben E. Cabell and grandson of Dallas mayor William L. Cabell...
. Alger polled 127,568 ballots (only 42.5 percent), a considerable number of votes in a House election. Yet, turnout was so much higher in 1964 than in 1962 that Alger lost even though he polled nearly 40,000 more votes in the latter year than in the former. Cabell prevailed with 172,287 (57.5 percent). Alger's defeat can be attributed to:
- The slowly increasing liberalism of Dallas voters, who also purged the entire six-member Republican state legislative delegation from Dallas County,
- The political climate that stemmed from the assassinationAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of President John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in Dallas, - The Democratic tradition of Texas,
- The presence of a native Texan, President Johnson, on the ballot, and
- The weak opposition candidacy of Alger's preferred presidential choice, Republican Senator Barry GoldwaterBarry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
of ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
In a 1971 interview with Joe B. Frantz of the University of Texas, John Tower discussed his relationship with Alger, noting that Tower would have deferred to Alger in the 1961 special U.S. Senate election had Alger wanted to run:
"Bruce and I got along very well together. Bruce is a very inflexible man, and a suspicious man. He questioned the intellectual honesty of men like Mr. Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson, and so he just didn't make any friends. I have never yet publicly said one disparaging word about a fellow member of the Texas delegation, and don't intend to, although some of them have been inclined to say things about me publicly from time to time. I won't respond."
Return to private life
After a decade in Congress, Alger resumed working as a real estate broker. He moved for a time to Florida but returned to Dallas in 1976. He remained out of the political limelight, except for a few occasional public appearances. Alger's extensive congressional papers are located in the archives section of the Dallas Public Library.Alger resides in Carrollton
Carrollton, Texas
-Climate:*On average, the warmest month is July.*The highest recorded temperature was 112°F in 1980.*The average coolest month is January.*The lowest recorded temperature was 1°F in 1989.*The most precipitation on average occurs in May....
in Dallas County
Dallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...
. He and James D. Martin
James D. Martin
James Douglas Martin is a retired Republican politician from the US state of Alabama. His 1962 campaign for the United States Senate was the first serious showing by a member of his party since Reconstruction....
, a Republican from Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, are among the oldest living former members of the U.S. House.
Related persons
The first post-Reconstruction Republican congressman from Texas who served more than a single term was Robert B. HawleyRobert B. Hawley
Robert Bradley Hawley was a U.S. Representative from Texas.Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Hawley attended the public schools and the Christian Brothers' College in Memphis...
, a lawmaker from a Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
from 1897-1901.
Cabell represented the Fifth District until his defeat in 1972 by Republican Alan Steelman
Alan Steelman
Alan Watson Steelman is a Dallas businessman who was a Republican congressman from Texas between 1973 and 1977; at the time of his election, he was the youngest sitting member of Congress. He gave up his Fifth Congressional District seat to challenge Democratic incumbent Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., in...
. The seat reverted to the Democrats in 1976, when Jim Mattox
Jim Mattox
James Albon Mattox was a Dallas lawyer and Texas Democratic politician who served three terms in the United States House of Representatives and two four-year terms as state Attorney General, but lost high profile races for Governor in 1990, the U.S. Senate in 1994, and again as attorney general...
was elected to succeed Steelman. Steelman ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate that year instead of reelection to a third House term.
External links
- Bruce Alger Collection at the Dallas Public Library
- http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/history/wc_period/Pre-WCR_reactions_to_assassination/Pre-WCR_reactions_by_the_left/Tussle_in_Texas/Tussle_in_Texas.html
- http://www.dallashistory.org/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl?read=7682
- http://www.time.com/time/archive/printout/0,23657,868078,00.html
- http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/alexandre-allee.html
- David S. Broder - Stoking Rage Over Health Reform Could Prove Dangerous for Republicans (Washington Post, August 12, 2009)