Merriman Smith | |
|---|---|
 Smith in 1962 | |
| Born | (1913-02-10)February 10, 1913 |
| Died | April 13, 1970(1970-04-13) (aged 57) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Awards | |
Albert Merriman Smith (February 10, 1913 – April 13, 1970) was an American wire service reporter, notably serving as White House correspondent forUnited Press International and its predecessor, United Press. He won thePulitzer Prize in 1964 for his coverage of theassassination of John F. Kennedy and was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 byLyndon B. Johnson.[1][2]
Albert Merriman Smith was born on February 10, 1913, inSavannah,Georgia.[3]
Known by his middle name (and his nickname, "Smitty"), Smith covered US presidents fromFranklin Delano Roosevelt toRichard Nixon and originated the practice of closing presidential news conferences with "Thank You, Mr. President," which was the title of his 1946 book, written during his coverage of theHarry Truman administration.[2] That honor, accorded the senior wire service reporter present at presidential news conferences, became more popularly known when it was continued by Smith's UPI colleagueHelen Thomas.[3]
Smith began covering the White House in 1940. After the United States entered the Second World War, he was designated as one of the wire service reporters to follow the president on all his travels. They agreed for security purposes not to file their stories until after each trip had ended. Consequently, Smith was in Warm Springs, Georgia, on April 12, 1945, and filed one of the first reports on the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[4]
On November 22, 1963, Smith was the main UPI reporter in Dallas forJohn F. Kennedy's visit. He traveled in the motorcade in the White House Pool car, which had a radiotelephone.[5] When the shots were fired, Smith grabbed the phone and called the UPI office.[6] He stayed on the phone while Jack Bell, the AP reporter in the car, started punching Smith and yelling at him to hand the phone over.[7][5] At 12:34 PM CST, four minutes after the presidential shooting, the report went out over UPI wire.[5] In 1964, he received the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the assassination of US PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.[8] He was the first to publicly use the term "grassy knoll" regarding the assassination.[9]
In the 1960s, Smith was a frequent guest on television interview programs hosted byJack Paar andMerv Griffin. Smith was presented with thePresidential Medal of Freedom by PresidentLyndon Johnson in 1969.[citation needed]
Despondent over the death of his son in theVietnam War and perhaps suffering from PTSD as a result of witnessing the Kennedy assassination, Smith died at his home inAlexandria, Virginia, on April 13, 1970, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.[10] Although he never served in the military himself, his grave is in Section 32 ofArlington National Cemetery next to his son's, by special permission of the Commanding General of the Military District of Washington.[citation needed]
At the end of the President's press conference of May 8, 1970, concentrating on theKent State shootings and his decision to expand thewar into Cambodia, Nixon called on the White House press corps to stand in Smith's remembrance.
In 1970, theWhite House Correspondents' Association establishedThe Merriman Smith Memorial Award for excellence in presidential news coverage under deadline pressure.[11] His name was removed from the award in 2022 because of his support of excluding Black and female journalists from membership in theNational Press Club and from attending theWhite House Correspondents' Dinner.[12]
