in 1939, Smathers married Rosemary Townley from Atlanta and returned to Miami, where he served as Assistant United States Attorney from 1939 to 1942.

[7][1][8] He would also spend a short period of time prosecuting fraud from the war before running for the United States House of Representatives.

Congressman Smathers sponsored legislation to create the Florida Everglades National Park and supported the 24th Constitutional Amendment outlawing the poll tax in federal elections.

[9] Congressman Smathers' district included the "Winter White House" of President Harry Truman in Key West, Florida.

[12] Senator Pepper was a strong supporter of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal and recognized as a leading southern liberal.

In attempting to become a national figure, though, Senator Pepper promoted an internationalist platform of post-war, peaceful cooperation with the Soviet Union.

In his praise for Joseph Stalin, the Red Army, and the Soviet Union, Pepper developed one of the most vulnerable records in Congress.

Those positions, as well as his advocacy for sharing nuclear weapons technology with the Soviets, lost him the support of Florida's and the nation's press.

[13] Smathers' campaign attacked Pepper on his vulnerable international record, his support for universal health care and his changing stands on the Fair Employment Practice Committee.

Smathers defeated Pepper in the Democratic primary by over 63,000 votes and won handily in the November general election.

The signatories accused the Supreme Court of a "clear abuse of judicial power" and promised to use "all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation.

[22] After the chaos surrounding James Meredith's entry into the University of Mississippi in 1962, Smathers wrote "Federal law must be obeyed ... so that force does not have to be used to bring compliance.

"[23] Smather's contradictory positions on racial matters as a private individual and a Florida senator responsive to his conservative state were never more evident than after Johnson became president.

Smathers retained his position and influence as Secretary of the Democratic Caucus under Majority Leader Mike Mansfield in the sixties.

Smathers helped pass bills to create Medicare and Medicaid, the Clean Air Act, sponsored the creation of the Small Business Administration and the Senate Select Committee on Aging, and was the Senate sponsor of the Kerr-Smathers Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

He steered critical reforms of the Transportation and Immigration acts and legislation moving federal holidays to Mondays, essentially creating the modern three-day weekend.

Smathers continually urged vital improvements in sanitation and infrastructure as well as increased trade and economic aid to modernize Latin American economies.

Smathers recommended a joint OAS (Organization of American States) military force that would replace individual national armies to maintain the peace and fight communism.

Smathers described the Bay of Pigs fiasco as "an ill-conceived, ill-planned deal" that lacked the planning and firepower to succeed.

Naval embargo of Cuba during the Missile Crisis of October 1962 – the historic moment when the global superpowers came closest to nuclear war.

He worked closely with the Catholic Welfare Bureau and State Department officials to support Operation Pedro Pan which brought over 14,000 Cuban children to America.

In 1960, Kennedy asked Smathers to deliver his nominating speech to the Democratic Convention and to manage the Kennedy-Johnson campaign in the South.