Stephen Edward Smith
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Stephen Edward Smith (September 24, 1927 – August 19, 1990) was the husband of Jean Ann Kennedy. He was a
financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. political strategist in the 1960 United States presidential campaign of his brother-in-law
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
.


Early life

Smith was born in Bayport,
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, to Julia A. (Cleary), daughter of four-term Congressman William E. Cleary, and John Joseph Smith, and grew up in the
Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...
section of
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. He attended
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
, graduating in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in history. He served during the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force from 1951–1952.


Career

Smith joined his family's business, Cleary Brothers Inc., which operated tugs and barges on New York's upstate canals and in New York Harbor. He then headed the Park Agency Inc., in Manhattan, where he managed $300 million in Kennedy family investments. After his father-in-law Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. suffered a stroke on December 19, 1961, Smith managed the family's fortune out of a New York City office building. He was responsible for overseeing the trusts that benefited him and his family as well as the other children and grandchildren of Joe and Rose Kennedy.


Kennedy campaigns

Smith played an active role in JFK's 1960 presidential campaign, and was working as Kennedy's campaign manager for re-election in 1964 at the time when President Kennedy was
assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
in
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
on November 22, 1963. Smith served as
United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
Robert F. Kennedy's campaign manager during his 1968 presidential run at the time when the Senator was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
on June 5, 1968. In the fall of 1979, as polls showed that Senator
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...
could easily defeat President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
in the Democratic primaries, Kennedy announced his candidacy and made Smith his campaign manager. Kennedy lost to Carter and chose to not run again.


Personal life

Smith and Jean Ann Kennedy were married May 19, 1956 in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan, at which point he became the brother-in-law of future President John F. Kennedy. Stephen and Jean had two biological sons and later adopted two daughters: * Stephen Edward Smith, Jr. (b. 1957) * William Kennedy Smith (b. 1960) * Amanda Mary Smith (b. 1967) * Kym Maria Smith (b. 1972)


Illness and death

A longtime smoker, Smith died from lung cancer at his home in Manhattan on August 19, 1990, at age 62.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stephen Edward 1927 births 1990 deaths People from Bayport, New York Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni United States Air Force officers United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War Businesspeople from New York City Kennedy family People from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Military personnel from New York City