Preston Smith

Preston Smith (2nd from left); to his right, former US President Lyndon B. Johnson , August 1970

Preston Earnest Smith (born March 8, 1912 in Williamson County , Texas , † October 18, 2003 in Lubbock , Texas) was an American politician and governor of the state of Texas from 1969 to 1973 .

Early years and political advancement

Preston Smith attended Lamesa High School and Texas Technological College , now Texas Tech University . He started his business career together with a partner as operator of a cinema. By 1944 they operated a whole chain of cinemas. Smith had also expanded his business into other areas, most notably the real estate market. He achieved a high level of awareness especially in the west of the state of Texas.

Smith became a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1945 and 1951 he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives , and from 1957 to 1963 he was a member of the State Senate . In 1962 he was elected lieutenant governor of his state. He held this office until 1969, when he was Deputy Governor John Connally . During this time, the fatal assassination attempt on President John F. Kennedy in Dallas took place.

Texas Governor

In 1968 Preston Smith was elected governor of his state to succeed John Connally. He took up his new office on January 21, 1969 and was able to exercise it until January 16, 1973 after re-election. During his tenure, he implemented a reform of the education system. Some universities were newly founded and some other educational institutions were upgraded to universities. Additional schools for doctors, dentists and lawyers were also created. A drug abuse program was also launched at that time. During his tenure, Texas introduced minimum wages for the first time. However, there were also scandals in Texas and the United States during this period, which also left their mark on Texas. At the federal level, the Watergate Affair rocked the American nation. The Vietnam War was fiercely contested and the subject of numerous demonstrations. In Texas there was the so-called Sharpstown scandal between 1971 and 1972. It concerned bribes and fraud related to a loan from the financial group led by Frank Sharp , a banker and insurance manager in Houston. In the wake of this scandal, several Texas state leaders, including Senate President Gus Mutscher, were forced to resign. Although Governor Smith was not directly involved in the scandal, his reputation was so badly damaged that he lost the 1972 internal party primary to Dolph Briscoe .

Another résumé

After his tenure as governor, Preston Smith returned to Lubbock, where he continued to do business. In 1978 he tried unsuccessfully to win his party's nomination for the gubernatorial elections again. Until 1985 he was chairman of the education committee. Preston Smith died in 2003 at the age of 91. He had two children with his wife, Ima Mae Smith.

Web links

• Preston Smith at the National Governors Association (English)
• Preston Smith in the Handbook of Texas (English)
• Preston Smith in the Texas State Cemetery database
• Preston Smith in the database of Find a Grave (English)