Ralph Tyler Smith

Ralph Tyler Smith

Ralph Tyler Smith (born October 6, 1915 in Granite City , Illinois , †  August 13, 1972 in Alton , Illinois) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) who represented the state of Illinois in the US Senate .

Smith attended public schools in his hometown and then Illinois College in Jacksonville , where he graduated in 1937. He then enrolled at the Law School of Washington University in St. Louis and was established in 1940 after a successful study of law included in the Bar Association. He subsequently worked as a lawyer in Granite City, before he after the attack on Pearl Harbor in the reserve of the US Navy undertook. In July 1942 he entered active service, which he carried out until January 1946.

After retiring from the Navy, Smith returned to Illinois and resumed his legal practice in Alton. 1954 began his political career when he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives; a total of seven re-elections followed. During this time in Parliament, he was Whip the Republican majority faction in 1963 ; In 1967 and 1969 he was elected Speaker of the Chamber for two years .

In 1969, however, he moved to the US Senate. The governor of Illinois, Richard Ogilvie , appointed Smith as successor to the late Everett Dirksen . He took up his mandate from September 17, 1969 and also stood in the by-election, but was defeated by the Democrat Adlai Ewing Stevenson and consequently had to resign from the Senate on November 3, 1970. In the election campaign he was supported by a 19-year-old student at the initiative of the College Republicans from Utah : Karl Rove later became one of the most important advisors to US President George W. Bush .

Web links

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

• Ralph Tyler Smith in the database of Find a Grave (English)