He pursued higher education in osteopathic medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, and practiced there for several years.

He then traveled overseas to continue his study of medicine in Frankfurt, Germany, and in Vienna, Austria.

He supported $7 billion in aid to Britain, Lend-Lease, and the 1941 amendment to the Neutrality Act to remove restrictions that forbade U.S. vessels from entering combat zones and US citizens from sailing on vessels of belligerents.

He also denounced "isolationism" and took a staunchly "pro-British" position in between the "fall of France" in the summer of 1940 and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, during which time Great Britain was essentially alone.

During the early 1950s, Smith "would invariably draw 'zero' ratings from the Americans for Democratic Action and other leftist groups.