[1][2][3][4] From 1971 to 1972, Smith was the President pro Tempore of the Mississippi State Senate.

[5] He was an attorney who taught at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

He has served as president of the Ole Miss Alumni Association, the Inter-Alumni Council of Institutions of Higher Learning and the Mississippi Historical Society, among other organizations.

[5] William Marion Smith was born on February 2, 1932, in Natchez, Mississippi.

[1] He graduated from Natchez High School, and received B.A.