Oral History Interview with David Allred, August 9, 1967 Page: 6
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Allred
6
You get down there and if you like this sort of thing, it's
not like a regular job. In my case, I enjoyed it. It was interest-
ing. I had worked as a staff member for Senator Ralph Yarborough
and Congressman Jack Brooks and Congressman Ray Roberts, all of
Texas, and so I had seen it from that side of the fence. Also,
of course, it's just like in the Army, in that every private wants
to be a general and feels he can run the Army better than anybody
else. I had my own theories and ideas of what I would do if I
were a representative, and it was fun to try to put a lot of those
into practice. I got to the office usually around 7:30 or 8:00 in
the morning and stayed until 10:00 or 11:00 at night. And it did
cut deeply into my family life which is unfortunate and I was
grateful that I had an understanding wife. I did try on weekends
to get away because family life is a very definite part of things.
But I just found that I thoroughly enjoyed being a representative.
Now if it had been for a longer time, certainly I would have had
to take off more for the family. But I thought for those few months
while I was trying to learn, trying to get organized, and this type
of thing--that it would be all right to work these hours. But I
found that when I finished, there were other guys who were staying
even longer than I was, or at least as long. Joe Ratcliff is one--
there were any number of others. Bill Bass, from Van Zandt County,
Ben Wheeler, who was, I think, a very conscientious member, and
Fred Head from Tyler--any number of them. These are guys I happen
to know personally, and you notice the guys that you know, more thanthe others. But there were guys who stayed many many hours. And
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Marcello, Ronald E.; Kamp, H. W. & Allred, David. Oral History Interview with David Allred, August 9, 1967, book, November 20, 1968; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth223569/m1/7/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Oral History Program.