Background
Smith, Neal Edward was born on March 23, 1920 in Hedrick, Iowa, United States. Son of James N. and Margaret M. (Walling) Smith.
United States representative politician
Smith, Neal Edward was born on March 23, 1920 in Hedrick, Iowa, United States. Son of James N. and Margaret M. (Walling) Smith.
Student, University Missouri, 1945-1946; student, Syracuse University, 1946-1947; Bachelor of Laws, Drake U., 1950.
He served in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War as a bomber pilot. He received his undergraduate training at the University of Missouri and Syracuse University and received a law degree from Drake University in 1950. He was elected to the House of Representatives in the Democratic landslide of 1958, and was reelected 17 more times from a district based in Des Moines--numbered as the 5th District from 1959 to 1973 and as the 4th District from 1973 to 1995.
Foreign most of his tenure, Smith represented a relatively compact district in central Iowa.
However, the 1990s redistricting pushed him into a district covering the southwest quadrant of the state from Des Moines to Council Bluffs, an area that he did not know and that did not know him. He was defeated in the Republican landslide of 1994 by Greg Ganske, mainly due to heavy losses in the western portion of the district.
Neal Smith married Beatrix Havens and had two kids, Doug and Sharon. The Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa is named after the former congressman.
In 1996 Smith published his autobiography, Mr.
Smith Went to Washington: From Eisenhower to Clinton. At the time of his defeat, he had represented Iowa in Congress longer than any Democrat in the state"s history. He has since been passed by Tom Harkin, who served for 40 years in both the House and Senate.
Chairman Polk County Board Social Welfare, 1954-1956. President Young Democratic Clubs American, 1953-1955. Served with Army of the United States, World World War World War II.
Member American Bar Association, Farm Bureau, Farmers Union, DAV. Clubs: Masons.
Married Beatrix Havens, March 23,1946. Children— Douglas, Sharon.