Denny Smith

Denny Smith

Dennis Alan "Denny" Smith (born January 19, 1938 in Ontario , Malheur County , Oregon ) is an American politician . Between 1981 and 1983 he represented the second and from 1983 to 1991 the fifth constituency of the state of Oregon in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Denny Smith is the son of Elmo Smith , who was Governor of Oregon from 1956 to 1957 . He is also a cousin of Steve Symms , who represented Idaho in both houses of the US Congress between 1973 and 1992 .

Denny Smith studied at Willamette University in Salem until 1961 and then served in the US Air Force from 1958 to 1960 . Between 1960 and 1962 he was a member of the National Guard's Air Corps. He then rejoined the Air Force, where he was also used in the Vietnam War between 1962 and 1967 . Even after his military service ended, Smith remained loyal to aviation. Between 1967 and 1976 he worked as a flight engineer and copilot for a private airline. At times he also appeared as a lobbyist for his airlines in Washington . After his father's death in 1968 he also took over his newspaper business.

Like his father, Smith became a member of the Republican Party . After his victory in the 1980 congressional elections, he moved into the US House of Representatives, where he succeeded Al Ullman on January 3, 1981 . In the next election in 1982, Smith then moved to the newly created Fifth District of Oregon. After a few re-elections, he was able to exercise his mandate until January 3, 1991. In the 1990 elections he was defeated by the Democrat Michael J. Kopetski , whom he had defeated in 1988. In Congress, Smith served on the Budget Committee, the Home Committee, and the Veterans Committee, among others.

In 1994 Denny Smith ran unsuccessfully for governor of Oregon. Smith is divorced twice and has four children in total. He continues to work in the newspaper business, where he runs Eagle Newspapers .

Web links

• Denny Smith in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)