- Collection:
- Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program
- Title:
- Oral history interview with George T. Smith, 1988 August 31
- Creator:
- Smith, George T. (George Thornewell), 1916-
- Contributor to Resource:
- Steely, Mel
Wagner, Don
University of West Georgia. Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program - Publisher:
- Carrollton, Ga. : University of West Georgia Special Collections in association with the Digital Library of Georgia
- Date of Original:
- 1988-08-31
- Subject:
- Georgia--Politics and government--1865-1950
Georgia--Politics and government--1951-
Legislators--Georgia--Interviews
Judges--Georgia--Interviews
University of Georgia
Callaway Gardens (Pine Mountain, Ga.)
Grady County (Ga.)
Smith, George T. (George Thornewell), 1916---Interviews - People:
- Smith, George T. (George Thornewell), 1916-
Barnes, Roy E. (Roy Eugene), 1948-
Bowers, Michael Joseph
Busbee, George, 1927-2004
Dean, Roscoe, 1936-
Groover, Denmark, 1922-2001
Harris, Joe Frank
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Sanders, Carl, 1925-2014
Shipp, Bill
Underwood, Norman Lee, 1941- - Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
moving images - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- George T. Smith was born in Mitchell County, Georgia, in 1916. He is the only person in Georgia history to win contested elections in all three branches of state government. His service included Democratic Speaker of the House (1963-1966), Lieutenant Governor under Lester Maddox (1967-1971, and Georgia's Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.; Interviewed by Dr. Mel Steely and Prof. Don Wagner on August 31, 1988 in the Special Collections of West Georgia College's library.; The conversation begins with a discussion of Smith's decision to run for the court of appeals in 1976, switching from the legislative branch to the judiciary branch of the government. He discusses the differences between running for judge and a legislative office, talking for a time on campaign finances and conflicts of interest. The discussion moves to the structure of federal versus state judiciary branches and the election of judges in general. Smith then talks about his opinions on making judgments on the law and gives insight into how he did so. The conversation turns to allegations of bribery that Smith contended with for several months, which were ultimately resulted dropped. The conversation ends with Smith discussing what he was most proud of during his career and gives advice for others who mightpursue a career in one of the branches of politics.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:uwg_phc_smith19880831
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/uwg/phc/do:smith19880831
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [interview title], Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program oral history interviews. Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library, University of West Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 interview (circa 109 mins.)
- Original Collection:
- Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program oral history interviews. Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library, State University of West Georgia
- Holding Institution:
- University of West Georgia. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
