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W. Thomas Smith Jr. (born April 30, 1959) is an American author, editor, and journalist. He has written several books. His articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines.
Smith is executive editor of ''
World Defense Review'', a columnist with
Townhall.com
Townhall is an American politically conservative website, print magazine and radio news service. Previously published by The Heritage Foundation, it is now owned and operated by Salem Communications. The website features more than 80 columns (b ...
, and a former contributor to ''
National Review Online.''
Education and military service
Smith graduated from the
University of South Carolina Columbia in 1982 with a BA degree in history. He then served in the
U.S. Marine Corps as an
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
leader,
parachutist, and shipboard
special weapons security and
counterterrorism instructor. Following his service in the Corps in 1987, he served on a
para-military SWAT team in the nuclear industry. Soon thereafter, he began his career as a journalist.
Career
Smith has written for numerous publications, including ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'', ''
U.S. News & World Report'', ''
BusinessWeek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'', ''
The New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', and the UK's ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. In 1998, he co-authored a ''
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
'' magazine feature with
John F. Kennedy Jr.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (November 25, 1960 – July 16, 1999), often referred to as John-John or JFK Jr., was an American lawyer, journalist, and magazine publisher. He was a son of the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kenn ...
(Smith interviewed
Gen. William C. Westmoreland in Charleston, South Carolina – Kennedy interviewed Gen.
Võ Nguyên Giáp
Võ Nguyên Giáp (; 25 August 1911 – 4 October 2013) was a Vietnamese general and communist politician who is regarded as having been one of the greatest military strategists of the 20th century. He served as interior minister in President ...
in Vietnam). The interviews were published together as a single piece on the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
in the November 1998 issue of ''George''.
As a war correspondent, Smith reported from battlefields in both the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
in 1995 and in the Middle East in 1997, and he covered the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks from
ground zero
In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the groun ...
in New York. Also during the 1990s, he worked as a business magazine editor, a contract media relations director, a publicist for NBA basketball player
Vince Carter
Vincent Lamar Carter Jr. (born January 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who serves as a basketball analyst for ESPN. He primarily played the shooting guard and small forward positions, but occasionally played Powe ...
and other professional athletes, and was the sole columnist for head football coach
Lou Holtz's official website during Holtz's inaugural season at USC.
Smith's first book, ''
Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency'', was published in 2003. He has since written five other books.
Smith has been a guest commentator on the
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
Channel,
E! Entertainment's ''True Hollywood Story'', and Bill Bennett's ''
Morning in America "Prouder, Stronger, Better", commonly referred to by the name "Morning in America", is a 1984 political campaign television commercial, known for its opening line, "It's morning again in America." The ad was part of that year's presidential campaig ...
''. He has also been interviewed by numerous national publications (including ''
Woman's Day
''Woman's Day'' is an American women's monthly magazine that covers such topics as homemaking, food, nutrition, physical fitness, physical attractiveness, and fashion. The print edition is one of the Seven Sisters magazines. The magazine was f ...
'', ''
Writer's Digest
''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles.
History
''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 under ...
'', ''
The Writer'', and others);
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, and
ABC television affiliates; and he is a frequent guest on nationally
syndicated radio programs,
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
(NPR), and international radio, including the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. His articles have been included numerous times in radio-host
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
's daily "stack of stuff."
Smith is a contributing writer for ''A Nation Changed'', a book commemorating the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks (published by ''U.S. News & World Report''). He is the technical editor and foreword writer for the second edition of ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Iraq'' by Joseph Tragert, and he is the technical editor and "special afterword" writer for ''Contract Warriors'' by
Fred Rosen.
He has served as adjunct professor at USC's College of Journalism and Mass Communications, and he has lectured groups and conferences from
Fortune 500 companies to the
U.S. Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
.
A former correspondent for 'Agencia EFE' (the world's largest Spanish-language news wire), Smith currently writes a column, 'Beyond the DropZone', for – and is executive editor of – ''World Defense Review''. He is a columnist for ''Townhall.com'', and an erstwhile contributor to ''National Review Online''. Some of his stories have been picked up by the ''Scripps Howard News'' wire. Others have been re-published by the
U.S. Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
. He also writes for ''Family Security Matters'' and is the director of their Counterterrorism Research Center.
Beirut controversy
In November 2007, Smith became the subject of controversy for blog posts he wrote as a freelancer for "The Tank", a section of ''National Review Online'' (''NRO''). On September 25, 2007, Smith reported that some 200-plus heavily armed
Hezbollah militiamen were occupying a sprawling Hezbollah tent city close to the Lebanese parliament. Four days later, he blogged that between 4,000 and 5,000 Hezbollah gunmen deployed to the Christian areas of Beirut in an unsettling show of force.
''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' published a story alleging that Smith exaggerated or made up two events.
In response, Smith said he had only failed to be "specific in terms of detailing his sourcing."
After an internal ''NRO'' investigation, Smith's editors declared that ''NRO'' could not stand by the blogging because both reports were disputed as implausible by sources independent of Smith.
On December 7, 2007, Smith voluntarily ended his relationship as a freelancer with ''NRO'', saying this would be "in the best interest of the publication."
Books
* ''Encyclopedia of the Central Intelligence Agency'' – NY, Facts on File, 2003 –
* ''Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to Decisive 20th-Century American Battles'' (foreword by Brigadier General
David L. Grange) – NY, Alpha-Penguin, 2003 –
* ''Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to American Airborne Forces'' (foreword by Colonel Jeffery Bearor) – NY, Alpha-Penguin, 2004 –
* ''Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to the Korean Conflict'' (foreword by Dr. C. Kenneth Quinones) – NY, Alpha-Penguin, 2004 –
* ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pirates'' (co-authored with Gail Selinger) – NY, Alpha-Penguin, 2006
* ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Intelligent Design'' (co-authored with Christopher Carlisle) – Alpha Books, 2006 –
References
External links
External links
Article Archive at Human EventsArticle Archive at National Review OnlineArticle Archive at Townhall.comPersonal Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, W. Thomas Jr.
1959 births
Living people
University of Southern California alumni