[1] Born in Cambridge, Ohio, Smith began his political career in 1891 in Washington, D.C. as a secretary for Republican U.S.

He graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1895 and served on Shoup's staff until the senator's 1900 election defeat.

In 1937 he became director of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf (now Gallaudet University) in Washington, D.C., a position he held until his death.

Smith died at age 93 from lung cancer in 1956 and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Addison Avenue, a major east–west thoroughfare in Twin Falls, is named after him.

[5] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress