Bruce Alger
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Bruce Reynolds Alger (June 12, 1918 – April 13, 2015) was an American politician, real estate agent and developer, and a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, the first to have represented a
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
district since
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
. He served from 1955 until 1965. Though born in Dallas, Alger was reared in
Webster Groves Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census. The city is home to the main campus of Webster University. Geography Webster Groves is located at ( ...
,
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
, a small suburb of
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
.


Early life

Alger was the son of David Bruce Alger, a bank representative, and the former Clare Freeman, an aspiring poet and writer. Alger attended
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
in
Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. on a scholarship. There he studied
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
,
art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
, and
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
and was a center for the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team. Alger graduated from Princeton with an A.B. in philosophy in 1940 after completing a 73-page long senior thesis titled "Chinese Painting." he went to work for the
RCA Corporation The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
as a field representative. With the coming of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Alger joined the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and was assigned to Squadron 5 at the Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field in
San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
.Russell A. Alger papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan. He flew bombers and attained the rank of
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, claiming to be among the first U.S. troops in Japan after the conclusion of the war in August 1945. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross. On his return to civilian life, RCA refused to rehire him on the grounds that he had been out of television production for too long. In April 2013, Alger self-published a book on his experience in World War II; ''The Crew Book - Miss America '62''. The B-29 that Alger piloted was named "Miss America '62" after his daughter who would turn 18 in 1962. The book details the crew's experience through training, combat, and eventually the surrender of Japan. 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 A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, 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 ad ...
. In 1950, Alger announced the development of a 180-lot subdivision in Far East Dallas off Peavy Road which was to bear his name, and is known as Alger Park. Alger continued to support the development after being elected to Congress, even speaking at ceremonies for the neighborhood.


Congressional service (1955-1965)

In 1954, Alger became the Republican candidate for
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
for
Texas's 5th congressional district Texas's 5th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area that includes a northeast portion of the City of Dallas, Dallas County including Mesquite plus a number of smaller suburban, exurban and rural counti ...
. Considering his state's Democratic tradition, it was unexpected that Alger would win. He received 27,982 ballots (52.9 percent) to Democrat
Wallace H. Savage Wallace Savage (November 21, 1912 – June 19, 2000), attorney, was mayor of Dallas in 1949–1951. Biography Savage was born in Houston, Harris, Texas to Homer Hamilton Savage and Mary Wallace. He married Dorothy Minnie Harris, daughter of Will ...
's 24,904 (47.1 percent). He was the only Republican in the Texas delegation for eight years until 1963, when
Ed Foreman Edgar Franklin Foreman Jr. (December 22, 1933 – February 2, 2022) was an American businessman and politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He had one term representing Texas's 16th congressional district from ...
of
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, later of Dallas, joined Alger for the final two years of his tenure. Alger served during the heyday of the Lyndon B. Johnson and
Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...
era. As a Republican, and a strongly conservative Republican at that, he was the odd man out in the Texas delegation of the day. 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 Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
, 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. Despite being in the majority of the Texas delegation to decline to sign the 1956
Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...
opposing the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in '' Brown v. Board of Education'', Alger voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...
, and
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. According to ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' 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 In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
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 The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
majority leader, who was campaigning to become
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
as
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
's running mate. Alger held a placard which stated, "LBJ Sold Out to Yankee
Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
s." The rally turned ugly, and Lady Bird Johnson was spat upon by a protestor, and her white gloves were yanked from her and thrown into a gutter. Vice President
Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...
believed that the "Mink Coat Mob" incident caused him to lose Texas's then twenty-four electoral votes to Kennedy and Johnson. Columnists
Rowland Evans Rowland Evans Jr. (April 28, 1921 – March 23, 2001) was an American journalist. He was known best for his decades-long syndicated column and television partnership with Robert Novak, a partnership that endured, if only by way of a joint subsc ...
and Robert Novak said that the protest also affected the votes of white southerners in other states. Nixon later said, "Well, we lost Texas in 1960 because of that a**hole congressman in Dallas".
House Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerfo ...
Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...
particularly disliked Alger and was often brutal towards the Republican "interloper" in the Texas delegation.


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 Wade Henry Menasco Wade (November 11, 1914 – March 1, 2001) was an American lawyer who served as district attorney of Dallas County from 1951 to 1987. He participated in two notable U.S. court cases of the 20th century: the prosecution of Jack Rub ...
, the Dallas County
district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
who emerged seventeen years later as the defendant in the ''
Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...
''
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
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 Harold Barefoot Sanders Jr. (February 5, 1925 – September 21, 2008) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and counsel ...
, 62,722 (52.6 percent) to 56,566 (47.4 percent). Sanders was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee against Senator John Tower in 1972 and was later appointed a
U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
by President Carter. In 1962, Alger won his last term in the House with 89,938 votes (56.3 percent) to Democrat Bill Jones' 69,813 (43.7 percent). Alger was unseated in the 1964 general election by the former
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
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: #The Democratic trend of Dallas voters in the 1964 election, who also purged the entire six-member Republican state legislative delegation from Dallas County, #The political climate that stemmed from the assassination of John F. Kennedy 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 Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
of
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. In a 1971 interview with the historian Joe B. Frantz of the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, 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 formed Bruce Alger, Real Estate in 1973. The company had offices in Dallas' One North Park building. He moved for a time to
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
but returned to Dallas in 1976. Alger resided in Carrollton, which is located in three Dallas-area counties. He remained out of the political limelight except for a few occasional public appearances. Alger's congressional papers are located in the archives section of the Dallas Public Library. Alger was divorced in 1961 from Lucille "Lynn" Antoine, who said that politics caused an estrangement in the marriage to the point that they had little in common except for a liking for gin rummy. The couple had three children, Jill Alger of
The Villages ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
in Sumter County in central Florida and sons David and Steven, who died in 1964 and 2012, respectively. Alger's second wife, the former Priscilla Jones, also died in 2012, after thirty-six years of marriage. He had two step-children in
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, Robert Jones of
Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...
and Laura Jones of
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. Alger had seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Alger retired in 1990 and spent ten years with his wife Priscilla traveling around the United States in a recreational vehicle. The couple settled in 2000 in Barefoot Bay in Brevard County near
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on the central section of the Atlantic Coast of Florida. On April 13, 2015, Alger died of
heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
at the age of ninety-six at an assisted living facility in Palm Bay, also in Brevard County, Florida.


References


External links


Bruce Alger Collection at the Dallas Public Library
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060506185437/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 *https://web.archive.org/web/20070307173833/http://www.dallashistory.org/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl?read=7682 *https://web.archive.org/web/20070308011356/http://www.time.com/time/archive/printout/0,23657,868078,00.html *http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/alexandre-allee.html

(''Washington Post'', August 12, 2009) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alger, Bruce 1918 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American politicians American Protestants American real estate businesspeople Florida Republicans People from Carrollton, Texas Politicians from Dallas People from Brevard County, Florida People from Webster Groves, Missouri Military personnel from Texas Princeton University alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II New Right (United States) Burials at Arlington National Cemetery