[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 21494-21495]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                     TRIBUTE TO CHESTERFIELD SMITH

 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 opinion. Smith urged that an independent 
special prosecutor be employed to investigate the President.
  ``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.

[[Page 21495]]

  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.

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