Clyde H. Smith | |||
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Former U.S. Representative from Maine's 2nd Congressional District From: January 3, 1937 – April 8, 1940 | |||
Predecessor | Edward C. Moran, Jr. | ||
Successor | Margaret Chase Smith | ||
Former State Senator from Maine's 8th District From: January 3, 1923 – January 2, 1929 | |||
Predecessor | LeRoy R. Folsom | ||
Successor | Blin W. Page | ||
Former State Representative from Maine From: 1919–1923 | |||
Predecessor | ??? | ||
Successor | ??? | ||
Sheriff of Skowhegan, Maine From: 1905–1909 | |||
Predecessor | ??? | ||
Successor | ??? | ||
Former State Representative from Maine From: 1899–1903 | |||
Predecessor | ??? | ||
Successor | ??? | ||
Information | |||
Party | Republican | ||
Spouse(s) | Margaret Chase Smith |
Clyde Harold Smith (June 9, 1876 – April 8, 1940) was an entrepreneur[1] and Maine Republican who served as a U.S. representative from the state's 2nd congressional district until his death. He was the late husband of Margaret Chase Smith, who succeeded him in the House and later elected to the Senate for four terms.
Smith was previously a sheriff and state legislator.
During his tenure in the State Senate, Smith vigorously opposed the Maine Ku Klux Klan[2] as well as Gov. Ralph Owen Brewster, who had no record of public racist bigotry yet nonetheless refused to denounce the KKK.[3]
Smith ran for the House in 1936 and narrowly won the GOP primary among a slate of half a dozen candidates with a plurality polling 27.8%.[4] He handily won the general election[5] and was re-elected the following election cycle in the 1938 Midterms.[6]
Consistent with his opposition towards the Klan, Smith voted for the anti-lynching bills of 1937[7] and 1940,[8] respectively the Gavagan-Wagner Act and the Gavagan-Fish Act. He was also considered a conservative in terms of overall ideology.[2]
Smith died in office on August 8, 1940, prior to which he advocated the congressional district's constituents to elect his wife, the former Margaret Chase, to the House seat:[1]
“ | I know of no one else who has the full knowledge of my ideas and plans or is as well qualified as she is, to carry on these ideas or my unfinished work for the district. | ” |
Margaret Chase Smith won the special election and later was elected to the United States Senate, where she was known for being a foe of Joseph McCarthy, who exposed communist infiltration of the State Department and the U.S. Army. She established a reputation as a Moderate Republican while her late husband was considered a conservative.[2]
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