 | This articlehas an unclearcitation style. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style ofcitation andfootnoting.(September 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
George Smathers | |
|---|---|
 Smathers,c. 1964 | |
| Chair of theSenate Small Business Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1969 | |
| Preceded by | John Sparkman |
| Succeeded by | Alan Bible |
| Chair of theSenate Aging Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1967 | |
| Preceded by | Patrick V. McNamara |
| Succeeded by | Harrison A. Williams |
| Secretary of the Senate Democratic Conference | |
| In office September 13, 1960 – January 3, 1967 | |
| Leader | Lyndon B. Johnson Mike Mansfield |
| Preceded by | Thomas Hennings |
| Succeeded by | Robert Byrd |
| United States Senator fromFlorida | |
| In office January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Claude Pepper |
| Succeeded by | Edward Gurney |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's4th district | |
| In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1951 | |
| Preceded by | Pat Cannon |
| Succeeded by | Bill Lantaff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George Armistead Smathers (1913-11-14)November 14, 1913 |
| Died | January 20, 2007(2007-01-20) (aged 93) Indian Creek, Florida, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2, includingBruce |
| Relatives | William H. Smathers (uncle) |
| Education | University of Florida (BA,LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
George Armistead Smathers (November 14, 1913 – January 20, 2007) was an American lawyer and politician from the state ofFlorida who served in both chambers of theUnited States Congress, theUnited States House of Representatives from 1947 to 1951 and theUnited States Senate from 1951 to 1969. He was a member of theDemocratic Party.
Smathers was born inAtlantic City, New Jersey, the son of Lura Frances (Jones) and Benjamin Franklin Smathers on November 13, 1913.[1][2] The Smathers Family moved toNew Jersey from westernNorth Carolina. Frank Smathers served as a state judge in New Jersey and his brother,William H. Smathers, represented New Jersey in theUnited States Senate. Frank Smathers moved his family toMiami, Florida, when George Smathers was six in 1920. Smathers would attendMiami Senior High School. While in high school he was an athletic student.[3]
After graduating from high school, Smathers father would convince him to not accept a football scholarship from the University of Illinois and instead go for the University of Florida as he felt his son had the potential of holding elected office,[4] was not fitted for colleges football and he needed to have connections at the University of Florida for his law firm.[5] At the University of Florida, he would be the captain of both the basketball and track team. He was also academically involved being a member of the Florida Blue Key and managed to become a member of the university's hall of fame in 1936, the same year he graduated. At UF, managed to also become elected as the president of the student body without any opposition.[4] Smathers was inducted into the university's Student Hall of Fame and later into theUniversity of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.[6]
After completing hisLL.B. in 1939, Smathers married Rosemary Townley from Atlanta and returned to Miami, where he served asAssistant United States Attorney from 1939 to 1942. DuringWorld War II, he volunteered for theU.S. Marine Corps and served with Marine Light Bomber Squadron 413 for 19 months in theSouth Pacific. He survived a crash landing when his light bomber was damaged by enemy fire. Smathers returned to Miami after the war.[7][1][8] He would also spend a short period of time prosecuting fraud from the war before running for theUnited States House of Representatives.
After the war, Smathers was elected to serve two terms in the United States House of Representatives, representing Florida's Fourth Congressional District from 1947 to 1951. He established a reputation for being amoderate except for hisanti-communism.
In 1946, Smathers defeated four-term incumbent Congressman Pat Cannon by a margin of over two-to-one. Smathers served two terms in theUnited States House of Representatives, representing Florida's Fourth Congressional District from 1947 to 1951. He established a reputation as a southern liberal and a rising Democratic leader. He was best known for his strong support forPresident Truman and theTruman Doctrine to containSoviet andCommunist aggression. He fought to makeMiami a gateway toLatin American commerce and cultural exchange. Congressman Smathers sponsored legislation to create theFlorida Everglades National Park and supported the24th Constitutional Amendment outlawing thepoll tax in federal elections.[9]
Congressman Smathers' district included the "Winter White House" ofPresident Harry Truman inKey West,Florida. Smathers was invited by Truman to fly with him from Washington to Key West, establishing a key relationship with President Truman and members of hisCabinet.[10] In 1949, PresidentTruman called Smathers into a meeting at theWhite House and said, "I want you to do me a favor. I want you to beat that son-of-a-bitchClaude Pepper."[11] Senator Pepper had been a strong critic of President Truman and theTruman Doctrine and had taken a prominent and visible role in the unsuccessful effort to "dump Truman" in the weeks leading up to the1948 Democratic National Convention.[12]
Senator Pepper was a strong supporter ofFranklin Roosevelt and theNew Deal and recognized as a leading southern liberal. As one of the most effectiveorators of his era, Pepper was considered unbeatable by most Florida observers. In attempting to become a national figure, though, Senator Pepper promoted an internationalist platform of post-war, peaceful cooperation with theSoviet Union. In his praise forJoseph Stalin, theRed Army, and the Soviet Union, Pepper developed one of the most vulnerable records inCongress. Those positions, as well as his advocacy for sharingnuclear weapons technology with the Soviets, lost him the support of Florida's and the nation'spress.[13]
Smathers'campaign attacked Pepper on his vulnerable international record, his support foruniversal health care and his changing stands on theFair Employment Practice Committee. He charged that Pepper was out-of-touch with his Florida constituency and his positions contrary to national interests. Smathers defeated Pepper in theDemocratic primary by over 63,000 votes and won handily in the Novembergeneral election.[14]
While earlier interpretations stressedanti-communism,race-baiting andred-baiting as the dominant reasons for Pepper's defeat,[15][16][17][18] more recent scholarship has focused on Pepper's vulnerable voting record. Historians also contrasted the two candidates' campaign styles as a factor in the outcome. Finally, Smathers was the first candidate fromsouth Florida to be popularly elected as United States Senator breaking the political monopoly of north and central Florida on the highest statewide offices. His victory marked the emergence of southeast Florida's significant economic and political power.[19] For the first time in Florida history an incumbent United States Senator went down to defeat. Pepper's loss also broke the Florida tradition dating to 1845 of always electing one United States Senator from north Florida.
Thecivil rights movement dominated southern politics during Smathers' time inCongress. Smathers publicly opposed federal intervention in racial matters except to support voting rights. He also stressed the rule of law and the need for southern states to comply with any federal legislation. Privately, Smathers rejected many of the doctrines and tenets of white supremacy and believed that, over time, whites would change their views on race relations.[20] Smathers, though, fell into line with other southern senators by signing the 1956Southern Manifesto, an attack on theSupreme Court's 1954Brown v. Board of Education decision. The signatories accused the Supreme Court of a "clear abuse of judicial power" and promised to use "all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation."[21] AsJohnson's lieutenant in the Senate, he helped craft the Senate version of theCivil Rights Act of 1957. He publicly predicted the defeat of the southern filibuster of the bill and voted for its passage in the Senate. The bill was then referred to a conference committee and Smathers voted against the final version.[22] After the chaos surroundingJames Meredith's entry into theUniversity of Mississippi in 1962, Smathers wrote "Federal law must be obeyed ... so that force does not have to be used to bring compliance."[23]
Smather's contradictory positions on racial matters as a private individual and a Florida senator responsive to his conservative state were never more evident than after Johnson became president. Smathers urged Johnson to act quickly to pass national civil rights legislation, stating "Now that you're the President, I should think they would agree that the sooner we get a civil rights bill over with ... the better the South would be, the better the North would be, the better everybody would be." Smathers privately strategized with Johnson on the passage of the1964 Civil Rights Act telling Johnson, "I hope that he [Senate Majority LeaderMike Mansfield] has done his counting and that he has the votes."[24][25]
Yet, as a Florida senator, when the bill came before the Senate, he voted against it. Likewise, Smathers supported federal involvement in upholding voting rights, believing that through the ballotAfrican Americans would gain a seat at the table at all levels of local, state and federal government. In his words, "franchise and freedom are inseparable in America." However, while publicly praising the objectives of theVoting Rights Act of 1965, he opposed the Senate version of the bill. Nonetheless, he supported the final, amended voting rights measures, which enforced the voting rights provisions of the14th and15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, while outlawing allliteracy tests.[26]
Smathers' legislative abilities quickly attracted the attention ofSenate Majority LeaderLyndon B. Johnson, who brought Smathers into his inner circle as Secretary of theSenate Caucus, the third most powerful position in the party caucus. When Johnson suffered aheart attack in 1956, Smathers became actingSenate majority leader during Johnson's hospitalization. Smathers rejected Johnson's request to later becomewhip and recommended Mike Mansfield instead. Smathers' refusal to become Johnson's whip precluded Smathers from becoming majority leader when Johnson becamevice president in 1961. Smathers retained his position and influence as Secretary of theDemocratic Caucus under Majority Leader Mike Mansfield in the sixties. No other Floridian has ever risen as high in either theDemocratic orRepublican Senate caucuses. Smathers also served as chairman of the importantDemocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for six years.
Smathers helped pass bills to createMedicare andMedicaid, theClean Air Act, sponsored the creation of theSmall Business Administration and the Senate Select Committee on Aging, and was the Senate sponsor of the Kerr-SmathersIndividual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). He steered critical reforms of theTransportation andImmigration acts and legislation movingfederal holidays to Mondays, essentially creating the modernthree-day weekend.[27]
Senator Smathers was an early and longstanding advocate foraid to the countries ofLatin America. Smathers continually urged vital improvements in sanitation and infrastructure as well as increased trade and economic aid to modernize Latin American economies. Smathers recommended a joint OAS (Organization of American States) military force that would replace individual national armies to maintain the peace and fight communism. For his leadership on Latin America, his Senate colleagues dubbed Smathers "The Senator From Latin America".[28]
In February 1960 he was dispatched alongsideWilliam D. Pawley to theDominican Republic in order to convince the Dominican Republic dictator,Rafael Trujillo, to step down. Trujillo refused.[29]
Smathers had a chance encounter withFidel Castro in April 1948. Smathers was attending thePan-American Conference inBogota, Colombia, and Castro was participating in the opposition Pan-American Students Conference. Smathers would later claim that Castro admitted to Communist leanings at their encounter. As such, Smathers became an early opponent against Fidel Castro and an early advocate of an economic and armsembargo ofCuba.
Smathers described theBay of Pigs fiasco as "an ill-conceived, ill-planned deal" that lacked the planning and firepower to succeed. He was the only Senator withJohn F. Kennedy the night the President announced the U.S. Naval embargo of Cuba during theMissile Crisis of October 1962 – the historic moment when the globalsuperpowers came closest tonuclear war. Senator Smathers amended theImmigration Act to provide permanentvisas for Cubans fleeing Communist Cuba, as well as efforts to provide federal assistance in food, education, housing and work for Cubanrefugees. He worked closely with the Catholic Welfare Bureau and State Department officials to supportOperation Pedro Pan which brought over 14,000 Cuban children to America.[30]
Smathers received partial credit for much of Kennedy'sAlliance for Progress which incorporated Smathers recommendations of the need for the U.S to aid Latin America in sanitation, infrastructure, education, increased trade and economic assistance, including theInter-American Bank which Smathers helped pass. President Kennedy lauded Smathers for being "one of the first Americans to recognize the importance of Latin America".[31]
Both Smathers and Kennedy entered Congress the same year. They became fast friends, which lasted untilKennedy's assassination. At the wedding of Kennedy andJacqueline Bouvier, Smathers was chosen by the Kennedys to speak on behalf of Jack Kennedy at hiswedding rehearsal dinner. In 1960, Kennedy asked Smathers to deliver hisnominating speech to theDemocratic Convention and to manage theKennedy-Johnson campaign in the South.[32] Nixon would later say that Smathers was one of Kennedy's few close friends in politics.[33]
In 1960, to keep theFlorida Democratic Party united, Smathers agreed to run as a "Favorite Son". Winning theDemocratic Presidential Primary, Smathers became the first Floridian popularly elected to represent Florida as a presidential candidate at a national convention. In 1968, Floridians again nominated Smathers as their Favorite Son candidate for president.[34]
After leaving the Senate in 1969, Smathers was divorced from his first wife and married Carolyn Hyder. He achieved considerable success as alobbyist and businessman. Smathers lived inIndian Creek, Florida and was father to two sons, John (born 1941) andBruce Smathers (born 1943) (Florida State Senate 1973-75 andSecretary of State 1975–78) from his marriage to Rosemary Townley.
In 1988, Smathers donated property appraised at $2 million to renovate the University of Florida's original library building, nowSmathers Library. He also made atestamentary gift, valued at the time at $20 million, to the University of Florida and the university honored him by naming theGeorge A. Smathers Libraries. He also donated property valued at $10 million to theUniversity of Miami.[35]
Smathers often attended "Church by the Sea", theUnited Church of Christ inBal Harbour, Florida.
Hisfuneral was held there in 2007[36] after his death in Indian Creek at age 93. At the time of his death, he was the last living former U.S. representative who assumed office in the 1940s and the last living former U.S. senator who assumed office in the 1950s, as well as the last living former U.S. senator who served during thePresidency of Harry S. Truman.[37] Smathers was interred atArlington National Cemetery.
In addition to his relationships with Kennedy and Johnson, Smathers was also close toRichard Nixon, who was also elected to the House in 1946. Smathers introduced Nixon to"Bebe" Rebozo, who became Nixon's close friend and longtime companion. Smathers sold Nixon hisKey Biscayne home which became famous as Nixon's "Florida White House". Smathers was a childhood friend ofPhil Graham, a fellow Floridian and half-brother toBob Graham,Governor of Florida (1979 – 1987) and United States Senate member (1987 – 2005). Phil Graham would later become the publisher ofThe Washington Post.Bill Nelson, U.S. Senate member from Florida from 2001 to 2019, was a summerintern in Smathers's office in 1961–1962 and remained close to the Smathers family throughout his career.[38]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 4th congressional district 1947–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromFlorida (Class 3) 1950,1956,1962 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of Senate Democratic Conference 1960–1967 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Florida 1951–1969 Served alongside:Spessard Holland | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Aging Committee 1963–1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Small Business Committee 1967–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Most senior living U.S. senator (Sitting or former) 2003–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Most senior living U.S. representative (Sitting or former) 2004–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
| Select Committee (1950–1981) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Full Committee (1981–) | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
