Whatever Happened to

Former Congressman Alan Steel-man didn’t even give anyone a chance to wonder whatever happened to him. Shortly after his defeat last November in a run for the U.S. Senate, Steelman’s attention turned back to Congress, where he served from 1973 to 1977. This time Steelman is looking at Congress through a camera lens provided by Channel 13. Steelman is busy producing a 30-minute pilot program on Congress, as seen by a former member – a frustrated one at that. The pilot is being financed by a local dress manufacturer.

Steelman hopes his program will turn into a full blown series entitled “Here Sir, the People Govern.” (When asked by a British visitor to the capitol what the House chamber was, Alexander Hamilton supposedly replied, “Here, sir, the People govern.”) “There is a story that’s not being told today and can’t be told by someone who hasn’t served in Congress,” Steelman said. “There’s a lot of things a congressman simply can’t say because of political considerations. As a former congressman, I can.

“I’ve thought about this for a long time and hoped I’d have the chance to do it,” he said. “I’m really excited about the opportunity but I don’t intend to make a career out of this.” The pilot should be complete by March, after which Steelman will begin looking for the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to sponsor his proposed series.

There’s another former Republican congressman who has almost slipped from view – Bruce Alger – until he reappeared recently in Dallas. Alger just moved back to Dallas from Vero Beach, Florida, where he had been in the real estate business. “I was homesick,” Alger said. For ten years (1955-1965) Alger was the conservative standard bearer for Dallas County, until his defeat by the late Earle Cabell. “I’m waiting for the Good Lord to clue me in about what I should do,” Alger says. “I’m looking for gainful employment.

At 58 Alger hasn’t lost a bit of his oratorical vigor, which warms up as he speaks about politics. Alger admits he’s mellowed a bit since his Washington days of battling the federal government. “But I still stick to my yardsticks about the spread of federal government,” he says. “Before the federal government does anything I want to know if it really should be a function of federal government, and if it is, can we afford it?”

Revenue sharing, for instance, brings out the vintage Alger. “It’s a tragedy,” Alger explains, “because revenue sharing allows creeping federal influence in local affairs. The federal government raises money to pay for programs local governments are unwilling to finance First thing you know the local government becomes dependent on federa handouts, and those handouts come with strings attached, no matter what anybody tells you,” Alger emphasizes.

Alger still carries conservative credentials, those which echo Ronald Reagan Republicans. He describes himself as an old fashioned 1950’s Republican who believes the GOP is making a mistake by trying “to bring everybody under the party’s umbrella. If a party doesn’t stand for something,” he says, “then it’s not worth being. If Republicans don’t offer Americans a clear cut philosophical alternative to the Democrats, then the party will cease to exist.”

Alger says he still misses the case work of a congressman. “I always liked helping people who needed a passport at midnight or a fellow who married overseas and then couldn’t get his wife into the U.S.,” he said. Alger attributes his 1964 defeat to a backlash resulting from the Kennedy assassination. “Most Dallas voters had quarreled with the Kennedy policies,” he explained. “After the assassination I think many of them voted Democratic to make a friendly gesture to the rest of the country, which was blaming all of Dallas for President Kennedy’s death. Some Dallas leaders were even encouraging that thinking.”

Would Alger ever like to hold political office again? “Once a congressman always a congressman,” he replies, “but I can’t answer that question unless the situation actually presents itself.” Besides dealing in real estate and keeping up with politics, Alger has been spending some time on the racquetball court. Recently he won the Florida state title in the 55 years and older division. “Now that I’m back in Dallas,” he said, “I’ll be looking to pick up a few racquetball medals here too,” he chuckled.