Eugene Owen Smith (May 9, 1929 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

– July 25, 2012) was an American biographer. Smith was a son of Julius and Sara Smith. He graduated from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

with a degree in history. Due to his father's wishes he attended

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

but dropped out from it six months later. In 1950s he joined the Army and was sent to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He came back to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and started working as a clerk at ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' and by 1956 got a job with ''

The Newark Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the ''Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

.'' From 1956 to 1960 he worked at '' The New York Post'' but quit it due to persuasion to write a book about a

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

millionaire and his murder in 1955, called ''The Life and Death of Serge Rubinstein'' which came out two years later. In 1964 he published a book about

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

called ''When the Cheering Stopped: The Last Years of Woodrow Wilson''. Six years later he published a

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

biography, ''The Shattered Dream: Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression''. Seven years later he wrote a book about

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

called ''High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson'' which was followed by ''Lee and Grant: A Dual Biography'' in 1984 and the 1998 biography of

John J. Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Wes ...

called ''Until the Last Trumpet Sounds: The Life of General of the Armies John J. Pershing''. In 2009 he published his last book called ''Mounted Warriors: From Alexander the Great and Cromwell to Stuart, Sheridan and Custer''. Smith died of bone cancer at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Eugene Owen 1929 births 2012 deaths American biographers