Stephen Edward Smith

Stephen Edward Smith was born on September 24, 1927, in Bayport, Long Island, New York. His parents were John Joseph Smith and Julia A. (Cleary), the latter being the daughter of William E. Cleary, a four-term United States Congressman. Smith was raised in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn.

He attended Georgetown University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1948. During the Korean War, he served as a first lieutenant in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1952.

After completing his education, Smith worked for his family's business, Cleary Brothers Inc., which operated tugs and barges on New York's upstate canals and in New York Harbor. Subsequently, he led Park Agency Inc., a Manhattan-based firm managing approximately $300 million of the Kennedy family's investments. Following a stroke suffered by Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. on December 19, 1961, Smith took responsibility for managing the Kennedy family's wealth. This involved overseeing trusts benefiting Joseph and Rose Kennedy, as well as their children and grandchildren.

In the realm of politics and campaigns, Smith played active roles. He was involved in John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign and was serving as Kennedy’s campaign manager for the 1964 re-election effort when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Additionally, Smith managed United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign. During this campaign, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on June 5, 1968.

In 1979, Smith was appointed as campaign manager for Ted Kennedy’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. At that time, polls suggested Kennedy could defeat President Jimmy Carter in the primaries. However, Kennedy ultimately lost to Carter, who secured the nomination and declined to seek further campaigns.

Smith married Jean Ann Kennedy on May 19, 1956, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan. This marriage linked him as the brother-in-law of John F. Kennedy. Together, they had four children: two biological sons, Stephen Edward Smith Jr., born in 1957, and William Kennedy Smith, born in 1960; and two adopted daughters, Amanda Mary Smith, born in 1967, and Kym Maria Smith, born in 1972.

A smoker for many years, Smith was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died from the disease at his residence in Manhattan on August 19, 1990, at the age of 62.