William French Smith
| William Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 74th United States Attorney General | |
|
In office January 23, 1981 – February 25, 1985 |
|
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Civiletti |
| Succeeded by | Edwin Meese |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
William French Smith August 26, 1917 Wilton, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | October 29, 1990 (aged 73) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Webb |
| Children | William French Scott Cameron Gregory Hale Stephanie |
| Alma mater |
University of California, Los Angeles (B.A.) Harvard Law School (J.D.) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Rank |
 Lieutenant
|
| Unit | United States Navy Reserve |
William French Smith (August 26, 1917 – October 29, 1990) was an American lawyer. He was the 74th United States Attorney General.
Smith was born in Wilton, New Hampshire on August 26, 1917, and raised in Boston. He received his B.A. degree in economics, summa cum laude, from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1939, and his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1942. Smith was a direct descendant of Urian Oakes, the fourth president of Harvard College. His father, who died when Smith was 6, was president of the Mexican Telephone and Telegraph Co., whose headquarters were in Boston.
From 1942 to 1946, Smith served in the United States Naval Reserve, reaching the rank of lieutenant. In 1946 he joined the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles, one of the largest in the area. He eventually, became a senior partner and a top administrator of the firm, which at one time had 250 lawyers. He met Ronald Reagan before the 1966 campaign for governor, eventually becoming a member of the influential circle of advisers who formed the new Governor's, "kitchen cabinet". In 1968, Governor Reagan appointed him to the University of California Board of Regents. He later served three terms as chairman. Then eventually on December 11, 1980, he was nominated as the 74th Attorney General by the then elected, President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. He assumed his post at the United States Department of Justice, on January 23, 1981, serving until February 25, 1985. He pursued a strong anticrime initiative, increasing the resources used to fight the distribution and sale of illegal narcotics by 100 percent. Furthermore, he successfully lobbied for the establishment of a commission to create new federal sentencing guidelines. Major contributions were: supported Reagan's welfare reform program, recommended a comprehensive crime package, of more than 150 administrative and legislative initiatives, which included a federal death penalty, the denial of bail for certain types of crimes, the modification of the rule barring the use of illegally seized evidence in criminal trials, mandatory prison sentences for crimes involving the use of guns, and the use of private Internal Revenue Service information in combating organized crime; designed an immigration and refugee policy, announced a more lenient attitude towards corporate mergers in order to make government more responsive to the concerns of business, opposed anti competitive practices, modified the Freedom of Information Act of 1966, amongst many others. Notable are immigration bill and the crime bill of 1984. He also was the one who got the FBI into drug enforcement. The wealthy, white-haired Smith concentrated on getting more money for his department, beefing up federal efforts against drug trafficking and pursuing a policy with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to bring the nation's borders under control. President Ronald Reagan in his remarks Announcing Federal Initiatives Against Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime, October 14, 1982, said;
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