Robert Smylie | |
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| 24thGovernor of Idaho | |
| In office January 3, 1955 – January 2, 1967 | |
| Lieutenant | Berkeley Larsen W. E. Drevlow |
| Preceded by | Len Jordan |
| Succeeded by | Don Samuelson |
| 19thAttorney General of Idaho | |
| In office November 24, 1947 – January 3, 1955 | |
| Governor | C. A. Robins Len Jordan |
| Preceded by | Robert Ailshie |
| Succeeded by | Graydon W. Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Eben Smylie (1914-10-31)October 31, 1914 Marcus, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | July 17, 2004(2004-07-17) (aged 89) Boise, Idaho, U.S. |
| Resting place | Pioneer Cemetery Boise, Idaho |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 (includingSteve Smylie) |
| Education | College of Idaho(BA) George Washington University(LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | U.S. Coast Guard |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Robert Eben Smylie (October 31, 1914 – July 17, 2004) was an American politician and attorney fromIdaho. Smylie, who is a member of theIdaho Republican Party, served as the 24thgovernor of Idaho for twelve years, from 1955 to 1967. He was the first Governor of Idaho who was born in the 20th century.[1] Smylie is Idaho’s third longest governor, with a tenure only one week shorter than future governorButch Otter.
In the1966 election, Smylie was defeated in the Republicanprimary byIdaho State SenatorDonald W. Samuelson, who would serve only one term before being defeated in1970 byCecil Andrus.
Born inMarcus, Iowa, Smylie graduated from high school inCresco in 1932 at the height of theGreat Depression.[2] Offered a place to live by an uncle, in 1934, he moved to Idaho to attend theCollege of Idaho inCaldwell.[3] During the school year, he participated in speech and debate, the yearbook, football, and student government, and received a scholarship from theNational Youth Administration for working as a secretary for the Department of Philosophy and Religion.[3] At the College of Idaho, Smylie studiedpolitical science and developed his initial interests in current events—attending a political rally forJohn Hamilton, chairman of the Republican National Committee duringAlf Landon’s campaign againstFranklin D. Roosevelt's reelection for the US presidency in1936, attending Roosevelt's visit to the College of Idaho in 1937, and competing in debate and oratory events at thePi Kappa Delta National Tournament at Washburn University in Topeka, KS in 1938, the year of his graduation.[3] During his college years, Smylie concluded that hitchhiking was "a thoroughly respectable manner of travel," and would hitchhike back to Iowa in the summers.[3]
After graduating from law school in 1938, he moved toWashington D.C., where he simultaneously clerked at the law firm of Covington Burling, was aUnited States Capitol Police officer, and attendedGeorge Washington University Law School until his graduation in 1942.[2]
Having begun practicing law in Washington, D.C., Smylie left his practice in 1942 to join theUnited States Coast Guard as a lawyer and was stationed inPhiladelphia and thePhilippines duringWorld War II. He returned to his private practice in 1946.
In January 1947, Smylie became a deputyattorney general in Idaho,[4] under newly electedRobert Ailshie.[5] That November, Ailshie unexpectedly died of a heart attack at age 39;[6] Smylie was appointed attorney general at age 33 by GovernorC. A. Robins, and was elected to a full four-year term in 1950.[7]
Smylie ran for governor in1954, as the seat was not eligible for re-election at the time and was held by RepublicanLen Jordan. Starting with the1946 election, Idaho changed from two-year to four-year terms for governor, but with the change it disallowed self-succession (re-election). Smylie was elected governor at age forty in 1954 and successfully lobbied the 1955 legislature to propose an amendment to the state constitution to allow gubernatorial re-election, which was approved by voters in the 1956 general election.[8][9] Smylie, the first Idaho governor born in the 20th century, was re-elected in1958 and 1962. In his 1962 reelection, with the backing of labor unions, Smylie vowed to veto any legislation that establishedright-to-work laws in Idaho. Another factor that led to Smylie's reelection in 1962 was his Democratic opponent's support ofgambling.[10]
I had an unquenchable thirst to start doing things for Idaho that I thought needed doing (both public school and higher education), in the manner of highway transportation, in economic development, and in the development of a system of parks and recreation.[11]
During his tenure as governor, Smylie increased the minimum wage, established a five-day work week for state employees, increased funding for public education and highway infrastructure, maintained annual balanced budgets, and created the Department of Commerce, theDepartment of Parks and Recreation, the Idaho State Historical Society Museum, the Department of Water Resources and the Permanent Building Fund. By 1962, Idaho's school districts had been reduced to 110.[12] In February 1955, following a prompt from aBBC reporter, Smylie fast-tracked legislation to remove the anomaly of Idaho being the only one of the 48 states that did not observeGeorge Washington's Birthday as a holiday.[13][14] While governor, Smylie served as chair of theWestern Governors Association (1959–1961) and as chair of theRepublican Governors Association. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1960.[15] Smylie served on the National Governor's Conference Executive Committee from 1956 to 1957, from 1959 to 1960, and in 1963.[16] Smylie was described by a regional columnist as one of the "shrewdest politicians" of the Republican Party.[17]
AfterBarry Goldwater's loss toLyndon B. Johnson and the Democrats winning a majority over the Republicans in the Senate and House, Smylie claimed that Goldwater was on the "wrong side of every issue" and remarked that it was one of the biggest losses in the history of the Republican Party and that it needed to move to the center.[18][19]
Smylie ran for a fourth term in1966, but was soundly defeated (61–39%) in the Republican primary by his successor,Don Samuelson,[20] whom he had encouraged to run for thestate senate six years earlier.[1] Smylie attributed his support of the newly implemented sales tax of three per cent in 1965 as a major factor in his defeat. Other factors that may have led to Smylie's defeat in the Republican primaries were his support ofRay Bliss over pro-GoldwaterDean Burch as chairman of theRepublican National Committee and his urging that the Republicans repudiate the right-wingJohn Birch Society.[21][22][23][24][25] The sales tax was easily approved by voters in the November election;[26] it stayed at three per cent until1983,[27] and is nowsix per cent.[28] Smylie said of the sales tax in 1998: "Its passage marked a defining moment in the state’s struggle toward political and economic maturity."
Leaving the governor's office after a dozen years at age 52, Smylie returned to the practice of law in 1967. He served as trustee, chair of trustees, and as acting president of theCollege of Idaho.[22]
Smylie was a candidate for the openU.S. Senate seat in1972,[29] but finished fourth in the Republican primary, won byJim McClure.[30][31]
Smylie married Lucile Irwin on December 4, 1943, and the couple had two sons.[2][dead link]
Smylie died in Boise at age 89 on July 17, 2004, and his wife Lucile died less than six weeks later. They are interred at theBoise Pioneer Cemetery.[1] Lucile's sister Virgil was the widow ofD. Worth Clark, DemocraticU.S. Senator from Idaho.[32]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Attorney General of Idaho 1947–1955 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Idaho 1954,1958,1962 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Chair of theRepublican Governors Association 1963–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Idaho 1955–1967 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
