William French Smith | Biography

William French Smith served as U.S. attorney general from 1981 to 1985 under President Ronald Reagan. Smith's tenure was marked by a sharp break with previous administrations' enforcement of civil rights laws. Moreover, Smith lobbied for tougher federal criminal laws and for restrictions on the release of federal defendants before trial.

Smith was born on August 26, 1917 in Wilton, New Hampshire. After graduating from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1939, Smith attended Harvard Law School. Following his 1942 graduation he entered the Naval Reserve and served for the remainder of World War II. In 1946 Smith joined one of most powerful corporate law firms in Los Angeles and carved out a specialty in labor law. In this role he negotiated labor contracts on behalf of many large U.S. corporations. He enjoyed a reputation as a tough but flexible negotiator.

Smith became more political during the 1960s. A conservative and a supporter of Senator Barry Goldwater's failed 1964 presidential campaign, Smith got to know an actor named Ronald Reagan. Reagan, whose television commercials for Goldwater earned praise from the conservative wing of the party, was soon courted by Smith and other southern Californian conservatives to run for governor. Reagan's impressive 1966 victory started him on a road that would eventually lead to the White House and Smith was his constant companion. Smith served as personal advisor to Reagan but also served on the California Board of Regents during the Vietnam War era when he and others on the board sought to suppress student protests.

Smith helped raise money for Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign and remained a close adviser. Reagan rewarded Smith by appointing him attorney general in 1981. Smith set out to apply conservative principles to issues that had long been the province of liberals. He encouraged the Supreme Court to allow the states to enact laws that placed restrictions on legal abortions and he dramatically changed the focus and intensity of civil rights enforcement. Smith also lobbied for the Federal Bail Reform Act of 1984, which established preventive detention for federal defendants. Under this act, the prosecutor is entitled, under certain conditions, to file a request for a court hearing in which the prosecutor will ask the court to deny bail and hold the defendant in custody until and through the trial. In addition, the Reagan administration began its "war on drugs" initiative, increasing federal enforcement of narcotics laws and lobbying for tougher penalties for drug traffickers. Smith also supported federal sentencing guidelines that took sentencing discretion away from federal trial judges. Under these guidelines, the criminal history of the defendant and the type of offense are given points. Thus, the higher the score, the tougher the sentence. This resulted in more federal offenders serving time in prison and serving longer sentences.

In January 1984, Smith announced his resignation. However, he remained in office until February 1985 because of problems associated with the nomination of his successor, presidential adviser Edwin Meese III. Senate confirmation was only secured after a lengthy investigation into Meese's record. Smith died on October 29, 1990 in Los Angeles.