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Reed Smoot (U. S. Senator)
Encyclopedia
Reed Owen Smoot was a native-born Utah
n who was first elected to the United States Senate
from Utah in 1903, and served as a Senator until 1933. Smoot is primarily remembered as the co-sponsor of the 1930 Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, which raised US import tariffs on over 20,000 dutiable items to record levels and is widely regarded as having exacerbated the Great Depression
. Smoot was a prominent leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), serving as an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Smoot's role in the LDS Church (together with rumors of a secret LDS policy favoring multiple marriage and a secret oath) led to lengthy controversy, when he was first elected to the Senate, over his eligibility to serve, eventually settled in Smoot's favor. At the time of his death, Smoot was third in the line of succession to lead the LDS Church.
, Smoot was the son of Mormon
pioneer and former mayor of Salt Lake City, Abraham O. Smoot
and Anne Kristina (Morrison) Smoot. Reed Smoot attended public schools and the University of Utah
, and graduated from Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University
) in Provo, Utah in 1879. After graduation, he served as a Mormon missionary
in England. He married Alpha M. Eldredge of Salt Lake City on September 17, 1884. They were the parents of seven children.
On April 8, 1900, Smoot was ordained as an apostle of the LDS Church and became a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
to run for office in 1902. He was elected the same year to the United States Senate
(58th Congress
) as a Republican
Senator, representing the state of Utah. Smoot was introduced to the United States Senate by Utah's other Republican U.S. Senator Thomas Kearns
, a Catholic who was elected in 1901.
. Only a few years earlier, another prominent Utah Mormon, B.H. Roberts, had been elected to the House of Representatives
but was denied his seat on the basis that he practiced plural marriage (polygamy).
Smoot did not practice plural marriage, and the LDS Church had officially renounced the practice in an 1890 Manifesto
before Utah became a state. However, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that church leaders continued to secretly approve of new, post-Manifesto plural marriages. As a result, the Senate began an investigation into Smoot's eligibility. The Smoot Hearings
began on January 16, 1904. The hearings included exhaustive questioning into the continuation of plural marriage within the state of Utah and the LDS Church, and questions on church teachings, doctrines and history. Although Smoot was not a polygamist, the charge by those opposed to his election to the Senate was that he could not swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States while serving in the highest echelons of an organization that sanctioned law breaking.
There were claims that temple
-attending Latter-day Saints took an "oath of vengeance
" against America for past grievances. As a leader of the LDS Church, Senator Smoot was accused of taking this oath, which Smoot denied. Five of the U.S. Senators who participated in the investigation agreed, writing, "As to the 'endowment oath,' it is sufficient in this summary to say that the testimony is collated and analyzed in the annexed statement, and thereby shown to be limited in amount, vague, and indefinite in character, and utterly unreliable because of the disreputable and untrustworthy character of the witnesses." Although the majority of the committee recommended that Smoot be removed from office, on February 20, 1907 the Senate defeated the proposal and Smoot was allowed to serve in the Senate. Smoot was reelected in 1908 and continued to serve in the Senate until March 1933 (following his 1932 electoral defeat).
. The similar House bill was sponsored by William Kent
. The legislation passed the House of Representatives on July 1, 1916, passed the Senate on August 5, and was signed by President Woodrow Wilson
on August 25, 1916.
Smoot was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1923 to 1933 and served on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He became active in the national Republican Party
and served as a delegate to the Republican national convention in 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, and 1924. He was Chairman of the 1928 Resolutions Committee at the 1928 Republican National Convention and chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Smoot was a co-sponsor of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930, which raised U.S. import tariffs on over 20,000 dutiable items to record levels and arguably exacerbated the Great Depression
. U.S. President
Herbert Hoover
signed the act into law on June 17, 1930.
Smoot served five terms before being defeated in the 1932 election by Democrat Elbert D. Thomas
. After his unsuccessful reelection campaign, Smoot moved back to Salt Lake City. He retired from active business and political pursuits to dedicate his remaining years as an apostle for the LDS Church. Smoot died on February 9, 1941 during a visit to St. Petersburg, Florida
, and was buried in Provo, Utah
.
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
n who was first elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Utah in 1903, and served as a Senator until 1933. Smoot is primarily remembered as the co-sponsor of the 1930 Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, which raised US import tariffs on over 20,000 dutiable items to record levels and is widely regarded as having exacerbated the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Smoot was a prominent leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), serving as an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Smoot's role in the LDS Church (together with rumors of a secret LDS policy favoring multiple marriage and a secret oath) led to lengthy controversy, when he was first elected to the Senate, over his eligibility to serve, eventually settled in Smoot's favor. At the time of his death, Smoot was third in the line of succession to lead the LDS Church.
Early life, family, and religious activity
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah TerritoryUtah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....
, Smoot was the son of Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
pioneer and former mayor of Salt Lake City, Abraham O. Smoot
Abraham O. Smoot
Abraham Owen Smoot was a Mormon pioneer, the second mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah, mayor of Provo, Utah, and an early supporter of Brigham Young Academy .-Early life:...
and Anne Kristina (Morrison) Smoot. Reed Smoot attended public schools and the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, and graduated from Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
) in Provo, Utah in 1879. After graduation, he served as a Mormon missionary
Mormon missionary
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
in England. He married Alpha M. Eldredge of Salt Lake City on September 17, 1884. They were the parents of seven children.
On April 8, 1900, Smoot was ordained as an apostle of the LDS Church and became a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
United States Senate
After becoming an apostle in 1900, Smoot received the approval of church president Joseph F. SmithJoseph F. Smith
Joseph Fielding Smith, Sr. was the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
to run for office in 1902. He was elected the same year to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
(58th Congress
58th United States Congress
- House of Representatives :* Republican : 209 * Democratic : 176* Silver Republican : 1TOTAL members: 386-Senate:* President: Vacant* President pro tempore: William P. Frye -Members:...
) as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Senator, representing the state of Utah. Smoot was introduced to the United States Senate by Utah's other Republican U.S. Senator Thomas Kearns
Thomas Kearns
Thomas Kearns was a mining, banking, railroad and newspaper magnate. He was elected United States Senator from Utah from 1901 to 1905.- Immigration and mining :...
, a Catholic who was elected in 1901.
Controversy over religious affiliation
His election sparked a bitter four-year battle in the Senate on whether Smoot was eligible or should be allowed to serve, due to his position as a Mormon apostle. Many were convinced that his association with the church disqualified him from serving in the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. Only a few years earlier, another prominent Utah Mormon, B.H. Roberts, had been elected to the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
but was denied his seat on the basis that he practiced plural marriage (polygamy).
Smoot did not practice plural marriage, and the LDS Church had officially renounced the practice in an 1890 Manifesto
1890 Manifesto
The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
before Utah became a state. However, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that church leaders continued to secretly approve of new, post-Manifesto plural marriages. As a result, the Senate began an investigation into Smoot's eligibility. The Smoot Hearings
Smoot Hearings
The Reed Smoot hearings were a series of Congressional hearings on whether the United States Senate should seat U.S. Senator Reed Smoot, who was elected by the Utah legislature in 1903...
began on January 16, 1904. The hearings included exhaustive questioning into the continuation of plural marriage within the state of Utah and the LDS Church, and questions on church teachings, doctrines and history. Although Smoot was not a polygamist, the charge by those opposed to his election to the Senate was that he could not swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States while serving in the highest echelons of an organization that sanctioned law breaking.
Temple (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...
-attending Latter-day Saints took an "oath of vengeance
Oath of vengeance
In Mormonism, the oath of vengeance was an oath that was made by participants in the Endowment ritual of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between about 1845 and the 1920s, in which participants vowed to pray that God would avenge the blood of the prophets Joseph Smith, Jr...
" against America for past grievances. As a leader of the LDS Church, Senator Smoot was accused of taking this oath, which Smoot denied. Five of the U.S. Senators who participated in the investigation agreed, writing, "As to the 'endowment oath,' it is sufficient in this summary to say that the testimony is collated and analyzed in the annexed statement, and thereby shown to be limited in amount, vague, and indefinite in character, and utterly unreliable because of the disreputable and untrustworthy character of the witnesses." Although the majority of the committee recommended that Smoot be removed from office, on February 20, 1907 the Senate defeated the proposal and Smoot was allowed to serve in the Senate. Smoot was reelected in 1908 and continued to serve in the Senate until March 1933 (following his 1932 electoral defeat).
Career
In 1916, Smoot was the lead sponsor of the legislation in the Senate that created the National Park ServiceNational Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. The similar House bill was sponsored by William Kent
William Kent (U.S. Congressman)
William Kent was an American who served as a United States Congressman representing the State of California. He spearheaded the movement to create the Muir Woods National Monument by donating land to the Federal Government for the Monument.Kent was born in Chicago, Illinois...
. The legislation passed the House of Representatives on July 1, 1916, passed the Senate on August 5, and was signed by President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
on August 25, 1916.
Smoot was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1923 to 1933 and served on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He became active in the national Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and served as a delegate to the Republican national convention in 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, and 1924. He was Chairman of the 1928 Resolutions Committee at the 1928 Republican National Convention and chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Smoot was a co-sponsor of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930, which raised U.S. import tariffs on over 20,000 dutiable items to record levels and arguably exacerbated the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
signed the act into law on June 17, 1930.
Smoot served five terms before being defeated in the 1932 election by Democrat Elbert D. Thomas
Elbert D. Thomas
Elbert Duncan Thomas was a Democratic Party politician from Utah. He represented Utah in the United States Senate from 1933 until 1951.-Biography:...
. After his unsuccessful reelection campaign, Smoot moved back to Salt Lake City. He retired from active business and political pursuits to dedicate his remaining years as an apostle for the LDS Church. Smoot died on February 9, 1941 during a visit to St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
, and was buried in Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
.
Further reading
- Flake, Kathleen. The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle. The University of North Carolina Press, 2003. excerpt and text search
- Paulos, Michael Harold. The Mormon Church on Trial: Transcripts of the Reed Smoot Hearings. Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2008.
- Heath, Harvard S. In the World: The Diaries of Reed Smoot. Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1997.
- Merrill, Milton R. Reed Smoot: Apostle in Politics. Utah State University Press, 1990.
- Smith, Konden R., “The Reed Smoot Hearings and the Theology of Politics: Perceiving an ‘American’ Identity,” Journal of Mormon History, 35 (Summer 2009), pp. 118–62.
See also
- Reed O. Smoot HouseReed O. Smoot HouseThe Reed O. Smoot House, also known as Mrs. Harlow E. Smoot House, was the home of Reed Smoot from 1892 to his death in 1941, and is located at 183 E. 100 South, Provo, Utah...
- Smoot-Rowlett familySmoot-Rowlett FamilyThe Smoot–Rowlett family is a U.S. political family. It is linked by marriage to the Kimball–Snow–Woolley family.=*c.1786 - 2 Dec 1847*Texas Republic House of Representatives, 1837-38, 1839-40, 1843-44*Namesake of Rowlett, Texas...
- Unseated members of the United States Congress