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[Page: S11242]  GPO's PDF
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   TRIBUTE TO CHESTERFIELD SMITH

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    Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the memory of an extraordinary Floridian who was also an American treasure--Chesterfield Harvey Smith.

   On Wednesday, July 16, 2003, we lost this resounding voice of conscience to cardiopulmonary complications at Doctor's Hospital in Coral Gables, FL. He was 85.

   Chesterfield Smith often called himself a ``country lawyer,'' but he was a pillar of this Nation's legal community. After graduating from the University of Florida's law school in 1948, he joined a law firm that he led through mergers and acquisitions to become one of the country's largest, Holland & Knight. He served as president of the Florida Bar Association in 1964, and then became president of the American Bar Association in 1973.

   While ABA president, Mr. Smith condemned President Richard Nixon following the firings of an attorney general and others in the so-called ``Saturday Night Massacre'' during the Watergate scandal. Mr. Smith's comment--``no man is above the law''--has been described as a turning point in public

[Page: S11243]  GPO's PDF

   ``The justice system was being torn down by Nixon's actions,'' Mr. Smith recalled in an interview with The Associated Press in 1999.

   Mr. Smith challenged members of the legal profession to provide quality, affordable legal services for all persons in need, insisting that law firms fill in where government funding came short. Always a visionary, he proposed testing of lawyers to weed out incompetents and was an early advocate of equal rights for women and minorities. Among his many honors, in 1969, the Florida State Chamber of Commerce named Chesterfield Smith the first ``Distinguished Floridian of the Year,'' and he was subsequently honored as a ``Great Floridian'' by Governor Lawton Chiles and the Florida Cabinet.

   In 2002, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg presented Mr. Smith with an award in recognition of his lifelong commitment to pro bono service.

   Born in the small town of Arcadia in southwest Florida, Chesterfield served from 1934 to 1938 with the Florida National Guard. He joined the Army in 1940, prior to Pearl Harbor, where he quickly achieved the rank of Technical Sergeant and was recommended for Officer Candidate School. After attending OCS and being commissioned as a Field Artillery Officer, he served during World War II combat as the Commander of B Battery with the 390th Field Artillery Battalion, 94th Infantry Division, that participated in the Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe Campaigns. His bravery in these campaigns resulted in his being awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He was also awarded the American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Service Medal, European Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four Bronze Service Stars and the World War II Victory Medal.

   Chesterfield was discharged from the Army, having attained the rank of Captain, in December 1945. He served 6 more years in the Army Reserve, retiring in 1951 with the rank of Major.

   After the war, he returned to Florida and graduated from law school at the University of Florida. He joined the firm of Holland, Bevis & McRae in Bartow and quickly made partner. Later, under Smith's leadership, the firm merged with the Tampa firm Knight, Jones, Whitaker and Germany in 1968, and the new firm became Holland & Knight. Smith served as the firm's managing partner for 18 years. Today, Holland & Knight is our nation's eighth largest firm and sets the standard for public service.

   In short, this son of Florida bravely served his Nation as a member of the armed services and as a civilian. He truly was worthy of what was his most cherished title: ``Citizen Smith.''

   I urge my colleagues to join me in expressing heartfelt condolences to Chesterfield's widow, Jacqueline Allee Smith of Coral Gables, FL and in expressing our appreciation for this great man's lasting legacy.

• [End Insert]

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