Neal Edward Smith obit

Former US Rep. Neal Smith, dead at 101, recalled as 'epitome' of a good public servant, 'a true Iowa treasure'

 

 He was not on the list.

Former U.S. Rep. Neal Smith was remembered Wednesday by Iowans from both sides of the political aisle as an unpretentious public servant who spent decades working on behalf of Iowans.

Smith, who represented the Des Moines area for 36 years in Congress, died Tuesday at the age of 101, his family said Wednesday.

The Altoona Democrat left behind a legacy that goes far beyond the buildings, trails, a wildlife refuge and other Iowa assets that bear his name, his former colleagues say.

"We’re going to miss him, I think, as a polestar of what it means to be a good representative and public servant, and (my wife and I) are going to miss him as a personal friend of over 50 years," former Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said. "I can’t imagine that anyone would ever have anything bad to say about Neal Smith, or his wife, Bea."

Harkin got his start in politics in 1956 when he was recruited to knock doors for Smith, then a little-known congressional candidate.

"They wanted me to go door-to-door for this guy I’d never met," Harkin recalled. "I didn’t even know what politics was. I was in high school!"

Smith lost that race in the primary, but he came back in 1958 and won his first of what would become 18 terms in office, representing central Iowa in Washington, D.C., from 1959 to 1995. He stands as Iowa's longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Upon the death of Lester L. Wolff in May 2021, Smith became the oldest living current or former member of Congress. He held this title until his death six months later. 

Harkin eventually met Smith, and even worked in his office for a time before starting his own lengthy career in Congress — one of many prominent Iowa politicians of both parties whom Smith mentored.

Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley won his first election to the Iowa Legislature in 1958, the same year Smith went to Congress, but didn't join him in Washington until 1975. In a statement Wednesday, Grassley praised Smith as "a real defender of agriculture, a great Iowan, and a good friend."

"When I was first elected to Congress as the only Republican in the Iowa delegation, Neal Smith was a mentor to me," he said. "I have never forgotten that. I try to follow his example. We worked in a bipartisan way on behalf of Iowans, just as it should be."

In a statement, Gov. Kim Reynolds called Smith "an American hero and a true Iowa treasure."

"Through his bipartisan work, Rep. Smith understood the importance of Iowa’s agriculture economy and kept that at the forefront, while also playing a vital role in changing Iowa’s natural landscape with the creation of the Saylorville and Red Rock reservoirs," she said.

"Rep. Smith leaves behind a storied legacy in our state and across our nation."

During his time in office, he worked on issues of key importance to Iowa's farm economy, such as agricultural inspections and commodity trading; led efforts to create the Saylorville and Red Rock reservoirs; and passed a landmark anti-nepotism bill.

 

"He was really the epitome of what it means to be a good public servant," Harkin said Wednesday. "Never thought about anything for himself, only how he could make life better for others, and how he could help improve the environment. He did so much for Iowa that people don’t even know about, and for our country."

Although he wasn't prone to showing off, Smith's intellect was plain to his friends and colleagues.

"Talking to him is like an oral history of Iowa. He remembers stuff that the rest of us have to look up," said longtime friend Michael Gartner in March 2020, when Smith turned 100.

“He was part of the revival of the Democratic Party in Iowa,” said Gartner, majority owner of the Iowa Cubs and a former editor of The Des Moines Register. “He was a wonderful combination of farmer, lawyer and very smart guy."

Former foe calls Smith 'a good guy and a gentleman'

Smith's Des Moines-area district was reconfigured during the 1990 decennial redistricting to stretch to the southwest corner of the state.

His campaign team found he was so little known by his new constituents that they published a short booklet, "A Man Named Smith," to introduce him to voters during his final campaign in 1994.

Despite these efforts, he was defeated by Des Moines physician Greg Ganske, part of a broader Republican wave led in the House by U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia and his Contract With America.

Fred Grandy, a Sioux City Republican who served four terms in the House with Smith, told the Register that year that Smith was a political moderate with no taste or talent for self-promotion.

"He's been one of the good, gray stewards who are not particularly popular with the Oprah generation, and that probably says more about us than it does about him," Grandy said.

Ganske, who served in Congress until 2003, said Wednesday that Smith was gracious to him in defeat and in later years would chat with him at Rotary Club meetings about what was happening in Congress.

"He was a good guy and a gentleman," he said. "He should be remembered for his long public service."

Smith's 36 years represent the longest tenure in the House of Representatives in Iowa history, although both Harkin and Grassley have surpassed his mark for total time in Congress, earned mostly through their longevity in the U.S. Senate. 

Despite his low profile, Smith left his mark and name in many places, including the Neal Smith federal office building, in downtown Des Moines; the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, in Jasper County; and the Neal Smith Trail, which starts in Des Moines. Smith and his wife, Bea were both graduates of the Drake University Law School, and the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center is named in their honor.

"There is a reason why there are buildings and nature preserves … named after Neal Smith," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said in a statement. "His life was one of pure public service where he did the very hard work of government in an humble way, creating results that matter to the people he served."

Even after leaving Congress, Smith continued to influence Iowa Democratic politics. Former Gov. Chet Culver, who knew Smith growing up through his father, U.S. Sen. John Culver, sought Smith's advice before launching his own first run for office in 1998.

Although their tenures in office didn't overlap, Culver said part of his job as governor was to build upon and leverage central Iowa's strong transportation infrastructure, which he credited to Smith's work in Washington.

"People might just see that building downtown, but he did so much more in terms of our entire transportation network in central Iowa," Culver said. "We were really able to build on that legacy that he helped create. That’s one reason why Des Moines and central Iowa continue to be such a transportation hub that is really vital and has helped us create jobs and bring a lot of business to central Iowa."

Other legislation Smith worked on didn't result in buildings or roads, but might be even more important, Harkin said. Smith led the effort to pass the Wholesome Meat Act in 1967, imposing new protections for both meat producers and consumers.

"You just take for granted when you go to the store, you’re going to buy meat that doesn’t make you sick," Harkin said. "Well, before that, a lot of times you took your chances."

Smith was born March 23, 1920, in his grandparents' house in Keokuk County, and served as a bomber pilot in World War II, receiving a Purple Heart and other decorations. He married Beatrix Havens in 1946, and the couple had two children. He farmed near Altoona throughout his time in office.

The couple both got their law degrees from Drake in 1950 and worked in private practice together. Neal Smith also worked for a time as an assistant Polk County attorney and as chairman of the Polk County Welfare Board in 1953 and 1954. He also was national president of the Young Democratic Clubs of America from 1953 to 1955.

Smith was inspired to get into politics by President Harry Truman's campaign in 1948. With Truman expected to lose, Smith went to the state Democratic headquarters and asked how he could help. He was told to start a young Democrats club at Drake, which he did. By 1956, he was ready to take his own first attempt at elected office.

"It just seemed like people who were there working in the government were trying to help improve the situation, and it made one think that government service was a good thing to do," Smith said in a 2015 Iowa Public Radio interview.

After leaving Congress, Smith wrote a number of books, including his 1996 autobiography, "Mr. Smith Went to Washington: From Eisenhower to Clinton."

Bea Smith, who died in 2016, had her own distinguished career, including her appointment in 1952 as the first female probate clerk in Polk County. She was active in social organizations in both central Iowa and Washington, D.C., including as president of the Congressional Club, which is open to spouses of members of Congress, the Cabinet and Supreme Court.

The Smiths were named Drake Law Alumni of the year in 1987, and the school credits them with securing a number of congressional appropriations that helped endow the Drake Legal Clinic, among other funding.