Stephen Edward Smith

Early life Smith was born in Bayport, Long Island, New York, to John Joseph Smith and Julia A. (Cleary), daughter of four-term Congressman William E. Cleary, and grew up in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. He attended Georgetown University, graduating in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in history. He served during the Korean War as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force from 1951–1952. Smith served as United States Senator 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 on June 5, 1968. During the autumn of 1979, as polls indicated that Senator Ted Kennedy could easily defeat President Jimmy Carter in the Democratic primaries, Kennedy announced his candidacy and made Smith his campaign manager. Kennedy lost to Carter and chose not to campaign again.

Personal life Smith and Jean Ann Kennedy were married May 19, 1956, in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan, at which time 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.