Albert Merriman Smith (February 10, 1913 – April 13, 1970) was an American wire service reporter, notably serving as White House correspondent for

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

and its predecessor, United Press. He won the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 1964 for his coverage of the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...

and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 by Lyndon B. Johnson.

Background

Albert Merriman Smith was born on February 10, 1913, in

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Career

Known by his middle name (and his nickname, "Smitty"), Smith covered US presidents from

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and originated the practice of closing presidential news conferences with "Thank You, Mr. President," which was the title of his 1946 book, written during his coverage of the

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

administration. That honor, accorded the senior wire service reporter present at presidential news conferences, became more popularly known when it was continued by Smith's UPI colleague Helen Thomas. Smith began covering the White House in 1940. After the United States entered the Second World War, he was designated as one of the wire service reporters to follow the president on all his travels. They agreed for security purposes not to file their stories until after each trip had ended. Consequently, Smith was in Warm Springs, Georgia, on April 12, 1945, and filed one of the first reports on the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On November 22, 1963, Smith was the main UPI reporter in Dallas for John F. Kennedy's visit. He traveled in the motorcade in the White House Pool car, which had a radiotelephone. When the shots were fired, Smith grabbed the phone and called the UPI office. He stayed on the phone while Jack Bell, the AP reporter in the car, started punching Smith and yelling at him to hand the phone over. At 12:34 PM CST, four minutes after the presidential shooting, the report went out over UPI wire. In 1964, he received the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. He was the first to publicly use the term "grassy knoll" regarding the assassination. In the 1960s, Smith was a frequent guest on television interview programs hosted by

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, writer, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine's ob ...

and

Merv Griffin Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...

. Smith was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

in 1969.

Death

Despondent over the death of his son in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and perhaps suffering from PTSD as a result of witnessing the Kennedy assassination, Smith died at his home in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, on April 13, 1970, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Although he never served in the military himself, his grave is in Section 32 of

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

next to his son's, by special permission of the Commanding General of the Military District of Washington. At the end of the President's press conference of May 8, 1970, concentrating on the Kent State shootings and his decision to expand the war into Cambodia, Nixon called on the White House press corps to stand in Smith's remembrance.

Merriman Smith Memorial Award

In 1970, the White House Correspondents' Association established The Merriman Smith Memorial Award for excellence in presidential news coverage under deadline pressure. His name was removed from the award in 2022 because of his support of excluding Black and female journalists from membership in the National Press Club and from attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Works

* ''Thank You, Mr. President: A White House Notebook'' (1946, 1976) ** ''Danke sehr, Herr Präsident! Notizbuch aus dem Weissen Haus'' (1948) * ''President is Many Men'' (1948) * ''Meet Mister Eisenhower'' (1955) * ''President's Odyssey'' (1961, 1975) * ''Good New Days'' (1962) * ''News Media – A Service and a Force'' (1970) * ''Merriman Smith's Book of Presidents: A White House Memoir'' (1972)

References

External links

President Truman Correspondence with Merriman Smith
Shapell Manuscript Foundation

at Arlington National Cemetery

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Merriman 1913 births 1970 suicides 1970 deaths American male journalists Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting winners Suicides by firearm in Washington, D.C. 20th-century American writers 20th-century American journalists United Press International people 20th-century American male writers