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Walter Bedell Smith

Walter B. Smith
Three quarter length portrait of  seated man in uniform. He is bare headed and wearing his medal ribbons. He is wearing the SHAEF shoulder sleeve insignia.
United States Under Secretary of State
In office
9 February 1953 – 1 October 1954
President Dwight Eisenhower
Preceded by David K. E. Bruce
Succeeded by Herbert Hoover Jr.
Director of Central Intelligence
In office
7 October 1950 – 9 February 1953
President Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
Deputy William H. Jackson
Allen Dulles
Preceded by Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter
Succeeded by Allen Dulles
United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union
In office
3 April 1946 – 25 December 1948
President Harry Truman
Preceded by W. Averell Harriman
Succeeded by Alan G. Kirk
Personal details
Born Walter Bedell Smith
(1895-10-05)October 5, 1895
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Died August 9, 1961(1961-08-09) (aged 65)
Washington D.C., U.S.
Spouse(s) Nory Cline (1917–1961)
Education Butler University
Signature
Military service
Nickname(s) "Beetle"
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Army
Years of service 1911–1953
Rank US-O10 insignia.svg General
Unit USA - Army Infantry Insignia.png Infantry Branch
Commands First Army
Battles/wars World War I
 • Aisne-Marne Offensive
World War II
 • Operation Torch
 • Tunisia Campaign
 • Operation Husky
 • Allied invasion of Italy
 • Operation Overlord
 • Siegfried Line Campaign
 • Battle of the Bulge
 • Western Allied invasion of Germany
Awards Army Distinguished Service Medal (3)
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star
National Security Medal
(more below)

General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (5 October 1895 – 9 August 1961) was a senior officer of the United States Army who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943 during World War II. He was Eisenhower's chief of staff at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in the campaign in Western Europe from 1944 through 1945.

Smith enlisted as a private in the Indiana Army National Guard in 1911. In 1917, during World War I, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was wounded in the Aisne-Marne Offensive in 1918. After World War I, he was a staff officer and instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School. In 1941, he became Secretary of the General Staff, and in 1942 he became the Secretary to the Combined Chiefs of Staff. His duties involved taking part in discussions of war plans at the highest level, and Smith often briefed President Franklin D. Roosevelt on strategic matters.


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