Preston Earnest Smith (March 8, 1912 – October 18, 2003) was an American entrepreneur and politician who served as the 40th governor of Texas from 1969 to 1973.

Smith was born into a tenant farming family of 13 children in Corn Hill, a town in Williamson County, Texas, that has since been absorbed into nearby Jarrell.

The Texas Tech University marching band led the parade just behind the marshal and the color guard.

Before the oath taking, the first to be televised in Texas history, Smith had been feted with a $25-per-place victory dinner in the Austin Municipal Auditorium, now the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

Smith lost his third-term bid for the governorship of Texas to Dolph Briscoe of Uvalde in the Democratic primary in 1972.