Neal Edward Smith (March 23, 1920 – November 2, 2021) was an American politician who was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

from

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

from 1959 until 1995, the longest-serving Iowan in the United States House of Representatives. Upon the death of Lester L. Wolff in May 2021, Smith became the oldest living current or former member of Congress. He held this title until his death six months later.

Early life

Smith was born in his grandparents' home near

Hedrick Hedrick may refer to: * Hedrick, Indiana * Hedrick, Iowa * Hedrick, Missouri * Hedrick (surname) {{Disambig ...

Keokuk County, Iowa Keokuk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 10,033. The county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil p ...

. He served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. His plane was shot down and he received a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

, nine

Battle stars A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

, and the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

with four

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

s. First with points to exit military service from his group and quickly recruited into university. He received his undergraduate training at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and received a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

from

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

in 1950.

Career

Before entering politics he served as an assistant county attorney for

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

. He served as National President of the Young Democratic Clubs of America from 1953 to 1955. He served as Chairman of the Polk County Welfare Board from 1953 to 1954. Smith was elected to the House of Representatives in the Democratic landslide of 1958, and was reelected 17 more times from a district based in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

—numbered as the 5th District from 1959 to 1973 and as the 4th District from 1973 to 1995. A federal anti-nepotism law, sponsored by Smith, was enacted in 1967 prevents public officials, including the president, from appointing any relative to head an executive agency. When the law was passed in 1967, it was presumed to be a congressional response to U.S. President John F. Kennedy appointing his younger brother, Robert Kennedy, as U.S. attorney general. As the author of the bill, however, Smith repeatedly denied this was his motive. Smith instead aimed the legislation, the Federal Postal Act of 1967, at nepotism in the postal service, and it applied broadly to both the executive and legislative branches. He said it applied to Congress because "there were 50 members who had their wives on the payrolls." For most of his tenure, Smith represented a relatively compact district in central Iowa. However, the 1990s redistricting pushed him into a district covering the southwest quadrant of the state from Des Moines to

Council Bluffs Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is lo ...

, an area that he did not know and that did not know him. Therefore he was defeated in the Republican landslide of 1994 by

Greg Ganske John Greg Ganske (born March 31, 1949) is an American politician, plastic surgeon, and retired U.S. Army reserve lieutenant colonel from Iowa. He served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and w ...

, mainly due to heavy losses in the western portion of the district.

Personal life

Neal Smith married Beatrix Havens in 1946 and they had two children: Doug and Sharon. His wife died in 2016. The Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City and the Neal Smith Trail in Des Moines are both named after the former congressman, as well as the Neal Smith Federal Building in Des Moines. The Neal and Bea Smith Law Center at

is named after the former congressman and his wife. In 1996 Smith published his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

: ''Mr. Smith Went to Washington: From Eisenhower to Clinton'', in 2009 he wrote ''Hanging Out in Bur Oak: During the 1930s Depression, Bootleggers, the Draft, World War II, a Leveling Experience'' and in 2019 ''From My Century to Yours: Wisdom from the Near 100-Year Life of Former Congressman Neal Edward Smith''. At the time of his defeat, he had represented Iowa in Congress longer than anyone in the state's history; he has since been passed by Democrat

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representative for Iowa' ...

, who served for a combined 40 years in the House and Senate, and by Republican

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States sen ...

, who as of 2021 has served for over 46 years in the House and Senate. However, Smith continues to hold the record for service in the House of Representatives. He turned 100 in March 2020. Smith died on November 2, 2021, at the age of 101.

References

External links

* *
Congressman Neal Smith At 99
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Neal Edward 1920 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American politicians American autobiographers American centenarians Aviators from Iowa Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa Drake University Law School alumni Men centenarians Military personnel from Iowa People from Keokuk County, Iowa Recipients of the Air Medal Shot-down aviators United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers University of Missouri alumni Writers from Iowa