Interview with George T. Smith, February 25, 2009

George T. Smith joined the U.S. Navy in 1940 and after two years was placed on the Naval Land Force Equipment Depot. He left the military in 1945 and returned home. In 1948, he graduated from the University of Georgia Law School and went into private practice in Cairo, Ga. In 1958, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. In 1963, he was appointed Speaker of the House. He successfully campaigned for lieutenant governor in 1966, but was defeated for reelection by Lester Maddox in 1970. Smith went into private practice in Marietta and made an unsuccessful run for governor in 1974. In 1976, he was elected to the Georgia Court of Appeals, and in 1980, he was elected Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Smith discusses his time serving in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the Georgia government, his race for lieutenant governor, and the Julian Bond case.

2009-02-25

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