Willis Smith

Willis Smith
United States Senator from North Carolina
In office November 27, 1950 – June 26, 1953
Preceded by	Frank P. Graham
Succeeded by	Alton Lennon
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office 1928-1932
Personal details
Born	(1887-12-19)December 19, 1887 Norfolk, Virginia
Died	June 26, 1953(1953-06-26) (aged 65) Bethesda, Maryland
Resting place	Historic Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Trinity College
Profession	Law
Religion	Methodism

Willis Smith (December 19, 1887 – June 26, 1953) was a Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1950 and 1953.

Early life and education

Born in Norfolk Virginia, he moved to North Carolina before age 2. After graduating from Trinity College (now the undergraduate liberal arts college of Duke University) in 1910 and Duke University Law School in 1912, he became a practicing attorney—but interrupted his work to serve in the United States Army during World War I. In 1912, he founded the law firm that eventually became known as Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan (informally "Smith Anderson").^[1]

Each year, Duke University Law School awards the "Willis Smith Award" to the graduating law student with the highest academic average in the class.^[2]

Political career

Smith served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1928 to 1932, and was briefly the speaker of that body in 1931.^[3] He also served as a U.S. observer at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946, as chairman of the American delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Bern, Switzerland in 1952, as chairman of the Duke University board of trustees (1947 - 1953), and as president of the American Bar Association (1945-1946).^[4]

In the Democratic primary of 1950, Smith defeated incumbent Sen. Frank Porter Graham for the nomination. Graham had been appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of J. Melville Broughton and had served only a little over a year at the time of his defeat. In a campaign distinguished by race-baiting,^[5] Graham, who was well known for his antiracist sympathies, was supported by President Harry Truman and the state's liberal Democratic faction, while Smith was aided by a young strategist named Jesse Helms.

Smith's service in the Senate was brief and unremarkable. He died suddenly in 1953 in Bethesda, Maryland and was interred at the Historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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  Campaign flyer for Willis Smith for Senate in the 1950 US Senate race in North Carolina.

References

United States Senators from North Carolina
Class 2	Johnston Martin Franklin Turner Stokes Branch Brown Mangum Reid Bragg Abbott Ransom Butler Simmons Bailey Umstead Broughton F. Graham Smith Lennon Scott Jordan Helms Dole Hagan Tillis
Class 3	Hawkins Bloodworth Stone Franklin Stone Locke Macon Iredell Mangum Strange W. Graham Haywood Badger Biggs Clingman Pool Merrimon Vance Jarvis Pritchard Overman Morrison Reynolds Hoey Ervin Morgan East Broyhill Sanford Faircloth Edwards Burr