Elizabeth Rudel Smith Gatov (April 27, 1911 – January 25, 1997) was a leader of the California Democratic Party who served as

Treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as the custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage pr ...

, 1961–1962.

Early life

She was born in Montreal, the daughter of a

Canadian-American Canadian Americans () are Citizenship of the United States, American citizens or in some uses residents whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country who hold dual citizenship. Today, many Canadian American ...

industrialist who owned the Rudel Machinery Company, attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

and graduated in 1937 from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Personal life

In 1942, she moved to California when she married San Francisco businessman Frederick H. Smith IV, her third husband, whom she later divorced. She married again in 1962, to Savings and Loan executive Albert W. Gatov, who died in 1978. Mrs. Gatov returned to her Marin home from Washington in 1962 and remained active in Democratic politics for the next 20 years. She was a close friend of the

Kennedy family The Kennedy family () is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from County Wexford, Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P ...

and many other prominent Democrats.

Politics

Mrs. Gatov first became active in Democratic politics during the Truman presidential campaign of 1948. After working with the

Coro Foundation Coro is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization best known for its fellowship program dedicated to teaching skills useful in leadership in public affairs to young adults. The organization was founded in San Francisco in 1942 by W. Do ...

in San Francisco to train young men and women for careers in politics and government, she chaired the Marin County Democratic Party, and, in 1956, was chosen as Democratic National Committeewoman from California, joining Los Angeles lawyer Paul Ziffren, the National Committeeman, as liaison with the national Democratic Party. She held that Party post until her appointment in the Kennedy Administration, which also followed brief service in Sacramento as Deputy Labor Commissioner for Governor

Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he ...

Sources

Inventory of the Elizabeth R. Gatov Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Elizabeth Rudel 1911 births 1997 deaths California Democrats Smith College alumni Treasurers of the United States University of Michigan alumni American people of Canadian descent 20th-century California politicians