Smith, Howard Kingsbury, Jr.

▪ 2003

      American journalist and broadcaster (b. May 12, 1914, Ferriday, La.—d. Feb. 15, 2002, Bethesda, Md.), was a longtime radio and television newscaster who remained true to his convictions and was willing to take a stand on important issues despite the fact that news reporters were traditionally neutral and despite the difficulties his outspokenness caused him in his career. He was also noted for having served (1960) as the moderator of the first televised debate between presidential candidates—John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Following graduation from Tulane University, New Orleans, in 1936 and studies at Heidelberg (Ger.) University, Smith worked as a reporter for the New Orleans Item-Tribune before going (1937) to the University of Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He went to work for United Press in London in 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, was sent to Berlin in 1940, and in 1941 joined CBS. His refusal to follow Nazi officials' orders regarding the content of his scripts led to his expulsion, however, and on Dec. 6, 1941, he left for Switzerland. Smith covered the war as part of the “Murrow boys”—the team put together by Edward R. Murrow—and in 1946 took over Murrow's post as CBS's chief European correspondent, a position he held for 11 years. In 1957 he moved to Washington, D.C., to be a correspondent and commentator for the CBS nightly news. In 1961, greatly disturbed by the injustices taking place in the civil rights struggle, Smith wanted to end the documentary “Who Speaks for Birmingham?” with a quote from Edmund Burke—“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” When the network cut the line, he left and went to ABC, where he stayed until he retired in 1979. Smith appeared in bit parts, generally as a newscaster, in a number of motion pictures, including Network (1976) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and he also was an author and lecturer. Among his several books were Last Train from Berlin (1942), The State of Europe (1949), and Events Leading up to My Death (1996). Smith counted an Emmy and a Peabody among his numerous awards.

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