Smith, Robert Clinton (1941-…), served as a member of the United States Senate from 1990 to 2003. Smith, a Republican, represented New Hampshire. He chaired the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee from 1999 to 2001.
As a senator, Smith received national attention for his work in seeking information from the government of Vietnam about American soldiers listed as missing in action, or possibly being held as prisoners of war, since the Vietnam War (1957-1975). While on active duty with the U.S. Navy from 1965 to 1967, Smith served one year in Vietnam.
Smith was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on March 30, 1941. He earned a bachelor’s degree in government and history from Lafayette College in 1965. From 1968 to 1974, Smith was a high-school teacher. He later owned and managed a real estate business.
In 1982, Smith ran for the U.S. House of Representatives but lost. He tried again in 1984 and won. He was reelected to the House in 1986 and 1988. In November 1990, he ran for the U.S. Senate and won. On Dec. 7, 1990, Smith resigned his House seat and was appointed to the Senate to finish the term of Senator Gordon J. Humphrey, who had resigned. Humphrey’s term ended in January 1991, and then Smith began serving his first six-year elected term. In 1996, Smith won election to a second term.
In July 1999, Smith quit the Republican Party and became an independent. He made the switch, he said, because he felt that the Republican Party was no longer being true to its conservative roots. However, in November 1999, Smith returned to the Republican Party. In 2002, Smith ran for reelection to the Senate, but he lost in New Hampshire’s primary elections. He left the Senate when his term ended in January 2003. Smith then moved to Florida. In 2009, Smith began an unsuccessful campaign to become the Republican candidate in Florida’s 2010 U.S. Senate race.
