Howard K. Smith
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Howard Kingsbury Smith (May 12, 1914 – February 15, 2002) was an American journalist, radio reporter, television anchorman, political commentator, and film actor. He was one of the original members of the team of war correspondents known as the Murrow Boys.


Early life

Smith was born in Ferriday in Concordia Parish in eastern
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
near
Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
.


Early career and CBS years


World War II

Upon graduating, Smith worked for the ''
New Orleans Item The ''New Orleans Item-Tribune'', sometimes rendered in press accounts as the ''New Orleans Item and Tribune'', was an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, in various forms from 1871 to 1958. Early history The newspaper, ref ...
'', with
United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
in London, and with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. In January 1940, Smith was sent to Berlin, where he joined the Columbia Broadcasting System under Edward R. Murrow. He visited
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
's mountain retreat at
Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; the ...
and interviewed many leading
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
, including Hitler himself,
Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...
or "SS" leader Heinrich Himmler and Propaganda Minister
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
. He was one of the last American reporters to leave Berlin before Germany and the United States went to war. His 1942 book, ''Last Train from Berlin: An Eye-Witness Account of Germany at War'' describes his observations from Berlin in the year after the departure of '' Berlin Diary'' author William L. Shirer. ''Last Train from Berlin'' became an American best-seller and was reprinted in 2001, shortly before Smith's death. Smith became a significant member of the " Murrow Boys" that made CBS the dominant broadcast news organization of the era. In May 1945, he returned to Berlin to recap the German surrender.


Post-war

In 1946, Smith went to London for CBS with the title of chief European correspondent. In 1947, he made a long broadcasting tour of most of the nations of Europe, including behind the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
. In 1949, Knopf published his ''The State of Europe'', a 408-page country-by-country survey of Europe that drew on these experiences and that argued "both the American and the Russian policies are mistaken"; he advocated more "social reform" for Western Europe and more "political liberty" for Eastern Europe. Despite these criticisms of Soviet policies, Smith was one of 151 alleged Communist sympathizers named in the '' Red Channels'' report issued in June 1950 at the beginning of the
Red Scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...
, effectively placing him on the Hollywood blacklist.


Civil Rights reporting: Who Speaks for Birmingham?

Reporting on civil-rights riots in Birmingham in the early 1960s, Smith revealed the conspiracy that existed between police commissioner Bull Connor and the
KKK The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
to beat up black people and
Freedom Riders Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions ''Morgan v. Virginia' ...
. He planned to end his report "Who Speaks for Birmingham?" (broadcast date: May 18, 1961 with a quote from
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," but the CBS lawyers intervened. Nonetheless, the documentary caused a stir (leading CBS to be sued and its Birmingham TV station to disaffiliate), and because his contract with CBS forbade editorializing, Smith was suspended and subsequently fired by CBS President
William S. Paley William Samuel Paley (September 28, 1901 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman, primarily involved in the media, and best known as the chief executive who built the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from a small radio network into o ...
.


ABC, 1962 – 1979

On June 5, 1968, Smith and fellow newsman Bill Lawrence were anchoring coverage of the California
presidential primary The presidential primary elections and caucuses held in the various U.S. state, states, the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, and territories of the United States form part of the nominating process of candidates for United States preside ...
that had stretched to 3 am. New York time. As the closing credits for the special were airing, word came in that
United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...
of New York had been shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. ABC simply showed a wide shot of the chaotic
newsroom A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournalists, videojournalists, associate editor, residence editor, visual text editor, Desk Head, s ...
for several minutes until Smith was able to confirm the initial story and go back on the air with a
special report Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a news, current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in ...
. He and Lawrence continued at their anchor desks for several more hours for reports of Kennedy's condition. In the summer of 1968, Smith moderated a series of debates on ABC between conservative journalist
William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
and liberal author Gore Vidal. In 1969, the veteran reporter became the co-anchor of the ''ABC Evening News,'' first with Frank Reynolds, then the following year with another CBS alumnus, Harry Reasoner. He began making increasingly conservative commentaries, in particular a hard-line stance in support of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. He contrasted United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's decisive stance in Vietnam with the international failure to take preemptive action against Hitler. During this period, his son, future ABC newsman, Jack Smith (April 25, 1945 – April 7, 2004), was serving with the U.S. Army 7th Cavalry Regiment in
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
and fought at the
Battle of Ia Drang The Battle of Ia Drang (, ; in English ) was the first major battle between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), as part of the Pleiku Campaign conducted early in the Vietnam War, at the eastern foot of the Chu Pong Mas ...
. These commentaries endeared him to President Nixon, who rewarded him with a rare, hour-long, one-on-one interview in 1971, at the height of the administration's animus against major newspapers, CBS, and NBC, despite Smith's having broadcast his "political obituary" only nine years earlier. Smith remained as co-anchor at ABC until 1975, after which Reasoner anchored solo until
Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (born September 25, 1929) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including ...
joined the broadcast a year later. Smith continued as an analyst until 1979; he left the network nearing full retirement, and as the
Roone Arledge Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise t ...
era was beginning at ABC News. Sources say that Smith was embittered over the reduction in time allowed for his commentaries and hence resigned after he criticized the revamped ''World News Tonight'' format as a " Punch and Judy show."


Awards and film roles

Among honors which Smith received over the years were
DuPont Award DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
s in 1955 and 1963, a
Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...
for radio journalism in 1957, and an award from the
American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The AJCongress was ...
in 1960. In 1962 he received the Paul White Award from the
Radio Television Digital News Association The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, pronounced the same as " rotunda"), formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, television, and online news dire ...
. Smith also appeared in a number of films, often as himself; '' The Best Man'' (1964), '' The Candidate'' (1972), '' The President's Plane Is Missing'' (1973, a made-for-television production of the
Robert J. Serling Robert Jerome Serling (born Jerome Robert Serling; March 28, 1918 – May 6, 2010) was an American novelist and aviation writer. Biography Born in Cortland, New York and raised in Binghamton, Serling graduated from Antioch College in 1942. He ...
novel of the same name), ''
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
'' (1975), ''
Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
'' (1976), '' The Pink Panther Strikes Again'' (1976), '' Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' (1977), ''
The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper ''The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper'' is a 1981 American crime thriller film about infamous aircraft hijacker D. B. Cooper, who escaped with $200,000 after leaping from the back of a Boeing 727 airliner on November 24, 1971. The bulk of the film fiction ...
'' (1981), '' The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' (1982), "The Odd Candidate" (1974) episode of the television series ''The Odd Couple'' (playing himself), the "Kill Oscar" episode (1977) of ''
The Bionic Woman ''The Bionic Woman'' is an American science fiction action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel ''Cyborg'' by Martin Caidin, starring Lindsay Wagner that aired from January 14, 1976, to May 13, 1978. ' ...
'' (playing himself anchoring an ABC newscast), and both '' V'' (1983) and the subsequent 1984 television series. He appeared as the Narrator in the 1987 film '' Escape from Sobibor''. Along with ''Last Train from Berlin'', he wrote three other books, ''The Population Explosion'' (1960), the children's book ''Washington, D.C.: The Story of our Nation's Capital'' (1967), and a memoir ''Events Leading Up to My Death: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Reporter'' (1996).


Personal life

Smith met his future wife, Danish news reporter Benedicte Traberg, while working in Nazi Germany in 1941. Because she was only 20 at the time, she had to return to Denmark for parental approval, but the couple re-united three months later in Berne, Switzerland."Benedicte Traberg Smith, widow of broadcast journalist Howard K. Smith, dies at 87." The Eagle, November 2, 2008. https://archive.naplesnews.com/community/benedicte-traberg-smith-widow-of-broadcast-journalist-howard-k-smith-dies-at-87-ep-400987598-332697061.html/ The couple were married until Smith's death in 2002. Benedicte died in 2008. Their son Jack was an ABC correspondent who received Peabody and
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
awards for his coverage of technology. Having left journalism for a job in Silicon Valley, Jack died at age 58 in 2004 of
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
in
Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
, California.


References


External links


Museum of Broadcast Communications
*''Who's Who in America'', 1972 edition * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Howard K. 1914 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American journalists American broadcast news analysts American male film actors 20th-century American memoirists 20th-century American non-fiction writers American radio reporters and correspondents American Rhodes Scholars American television news anchors Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) Cajun people Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland People from Bethesda, Maryland People from Ferriday, Louisiana Writers from New Orleans Alcee Fortier High School alumni Tulane University alumni Alumni of Merton College, Oxford American war correspondents Male actors from New Orleans ABC News personalities CBS News people American male journalists Maryland Democrats Hollywood blacklist 20th-century American male actors