What Were Albert Thomas Major Accomplishments

“Ok, Houston, we’ve a problem here,” uttered by astronaut John Swigart, of the Apollo 13 crew, may have had a very different sound, if not for Albert Thomas. Thomas was a fierce and accomplished congressman in Texas’ 8th district for 29 years. He was a man of the people, who knew and often thought of Houstonians first. His vision for Houston to become the largest city of the south guided his legislative ambitions, and ultimately his desire to have a NASA facility in Texas.

Albert Thomas was born and raised in Nacogdoches, Texas. After his earlier schooling, Thomas was accepted to attend Rice Institute. Rice is where Thomas would begin to shape who he was to become. He came to find that he gravitated towards leadership and other activities such

Many Houstonians elected him with hopes of a committed representative to help impact the flooding of Houston. Thomas, with this in mind, petitioned to join numerous committees including River and Harbors, Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Flood Control, and Labor Committees. The Labor Committee was the only one, of his primary choices, to accept him as a member. While new to Washington, Thomas continued to network and build lasting relationships with other members of Congress and slowly gained respectability among his colleagues for his persistence and work.

Although not on the committees he needed to be on, to positively impact Houston’s main concern of flooding, Thomas worked with the chairman of the River and Harbors committee and the army core of engineers to get federal assistance for Houston. Throughout his career Thomas ensured the continual surveying, widening, and deepening of Houston’s shipping

In 1958, Congress passed the Space Act establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Immediately Thomas saw the possibilities of the agency and decided he wanted his Alma mater to have a space research facility. He began by meeting with NASA’s first administrator Keith Glennan and mentioning wanting a NASA facility for Rice. Glennan abated the questioning by stating that a new facility was not on the books as of that moment for NASA.

With Thomas’ failed pursuits at getting an advanced sciences program for Rice through the Atomic Energy Commission, he again approached NASA. This began what could best be described as a grueling experience for Glennan. Thomas laid the pressure on Glennan going as far to say, “Now look here, Dr., let's cut out the bull! Your budget calls for $14 million for Beltsville and I am telling you that you won't get a God-damned cent of it unless that laboratory is moved to Houston, (Pruitt 2002)” during a budget hearing for NASA. Having Thomas as an opponent proved to make Glennan’s life as administrator very