Walter Bedell Smith

Walter B. Smith


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	General
Unit	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.